Weather Clouds, Image/Tech Mainstream
In a recent study by ForecastWatch, “the nation’s premier authority in meteorological accuracy validation” determined consumer brands the Weather Channel and Weather Underground (both part of the Weather Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM) ) “as the most accurate forecasters overall across diverse geographic regions and time periods covered.”
Three geographical areas were studied, the United States since 2010, and Europe and Asia Pacific since 2013. Among eleven weather providers, “the Weather Company was the overwhelming leader, offering the most accurate one- to three-day and three- to five-day forecasts in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and the most accurate six- to nine-day forecasts in the U.S. and Asia.” The Weather Company has credited IBM, which it is now part of, in helping to make this goal a reality :
“With IBM, we’ve stepped up investment and made a dedicated effort toward advancing our forecasting skill in 2016.”
The Weather Company’s accurate weather forecasting is attributed to three important factors: better data, analytics (which help advance weather modeling) and cloud-based infrastructure, which is now part of IBM’s Watson Data Platform. The Weather Company’s full spectrum weather forecasting spans past, present and future using precise weather data.
Forecasting the future, observing current conditions and analyzing the past help determine that “with the most precise forecast and reliable current and historical data and models available globally, Weather aims to deliver the right data to the right person at the right time to help the end user make more informed weather-related decisions.”
