NOAA's New Supercomputers Mean Better Storm Tracking, Officials Say

Capable of processing 213 trillion calculations per second, the newly upgraded supercomputers at NOAA's National Weather Service are more than twice as fast than their predecessors when it comes to processing the sophisticated computer models necessary to provide more accurate forecasts further out in time -- just in time for hurricane season.

As a result, scientists will be able to better track the trajectory and intensity of major storms, according to officials.

"These upgrades are a game-changer for the entire public and private weather industry," Louis W. Uccellini, director of NOAA's National Weather Service, said in a press release. "In addition to the benefits to our own forecasters and products, we will provide our private sector partners with better information to empower them to enhance their services."

Nicknamed "Tide," the supercomputer located in Reston, Va., along with its Orlando-based backup named "Gyre," are operating with 213 teraflops (TF), versus the 90 TF with which is operated at. As a result, the National Weather Service can now implement an enhanced Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model that, according to US Sen. Bill Nelson, could save lives.

As someone who helped secure the funding for the project, Nelson says the supercomputers will "allow for better tracking of life-threatening storms and more accurately predict when and where they'll hit, and with what intensity."

Through improved physics and a storm-tracking algorithm, the model has displayed up to a 15 percent improvement in both track and intensity forecasts, compared to last year's version of the model. In addition, the upgraded HWRF is capable of processing real-time data collected from the inner core of a tropical system by the tail Doppler radar attached to NOAA's P3 hurricane hunter aircraft, allowing for even greater forecast improvements.

Despite such advancements, however, those involved say they mark only the beginning.

Funding requested in the FY 2014 President's Budget, in addition to funding provided to NOAA by Congress in the spring of 2013 as part of the Hurricane Sandy emergency supplemental appropriations bill, would increase computing power even further to 1,950 TF by the summer of 2015, officials report.

This kind of power, Uccellini explains, would offer the necessary computing power to run an enhanced version of their primary forecast model, the Global Forecast System.

"Given recent events like the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma or Superstorm Sandy, federal weather resources and personnel should be considered vital national assets," said J. Marshall Shepherd, president of the American Meteorological Society and professor at the University of Georgia. "As a father of two children and a scientist that understands looming weather threats, I take comfort in these developments."