Why Private Forecasting Companies Can’t Replace the National Weather Service

In this edition of Today in Science, why forecasting data collected by NOAA is irreplaceable.

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--Robin Lloyd, contributing editor

Private Forecasters Rely on NOAA

Amid calls to cut federal weather services, some private companies are investing in their own weather satellites. However, these firms likely could not come close to replacing the massive network of satellites, radar, airplanes, buoys, balloons and other instruments operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Many private companies issue forecasts and create “fancy maps and other weather products,” write Christine Wiedinmyer, associate science director at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and atmospheric scientist Kari Bowen. But these products all derive from NOAA’s taxpayer-funded data and analyses, which are free to anyone.?

What the experts say: NOAA “can be held accountable in a way private businesses are not because it answers to Congress. So, the data is trustworthy, accessible and developed with the goal to protect public safety and property for everyone. Could the same be said if only for-profit companies were producing that data?” write Wiedinmyer and Bowen.

Why this matters: NOAA also partners with academic, nonprofit and private research efforts to help serve the public and yield the most reliable forecasts possible. Beyond those realms, aviation, agricultural, energy and insurance companies are among the business sectors that rely on NOAA weather data, forecasts and long-range predictions.?

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