The National Weather Service has launched a powerful new weather forecasting model, just in time for the U.S. Atlantic hurricane season. But some meteorologists worry that, even after years of testing, the model is still not ready for prime time.
Over the last year, the weather service has been testing the upgraded tool, using it to do retrospective forecasts of three hurricane seasons and three seasons of winter storms. The researchers then compared those forecasts with those of the previous forecast model, known as the Global Forecast System, or GFS.