Mountain Weather Forecasting
OpenSnow was described by Snow Industry News as, "a trusted source for the most accurate U.S. weather forecasts, snow reports, and weather maps." Tonight, we were invited to learn just what it is all about.%20(Medium).jpg)
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When we first moved to South Lake Tahoe and Steve still skied, he relied heavily on OpenSnow's weather reports. When we learned of the Speaker Series: Mountain Weather Forecasting with Bryan Allegretto and Andrew Brady we were intrigued. Organized by Operation Sierra Storm, we were asked to "step inside the world of mountain weather forecasting with a deep dive into how experts read the skies—past, present, and future. This session explores the evolution of high-alpine forecasting, from long-standing manual methods to today’s cutting-edge tools, and offers a look at where emerging technologies are taking us next. We’ll also spotlight OpenSnow’s innovative AI-powered forecasting platform, which is pushing the industry forward with hyper-accurate, real-time mountain weather insights."
On average over the past 10 years, Allegretto’s average forecast variance for each storm is ~1.5 inches. For the better part of the past two decades, his daily, detailed forecasts have become the beacon by which people make informed decisions about where and when they want to recreate in the snow, when to travel or avoid it, when the best conditions will occur for resorts to make snow, or how the weather might impact resort operations. While his explanations about how it all works was a bit over my head (Steve understood it all), I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about such an important aspect of life in the Sierra.
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Artificial Intelligence Engineer Andrew Brady, founder of AtmoSphere Analytics, strives to create technology capable of forecasting weather weeks in advance by using machine learning techniques and artificial intelligence.
Andrew was even more above my head*. He is the mastermind behind StormNet, a severe weather forecasting system that produces real-time, high-resolution forecasts for lightning, hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornadoes. He explained how the system ingests 125 million weather data points to produce updates every 2 minutes and offers hourly forecasts up to 168 hours ahead. *See what I mean?
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My overall feeling of the event was that of being very impressed. To know these systems are out there and they are continuing to improve, making weather events safer through advance warning, gave me comfort. These two guys are amazing.
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As is true of every happening we attend in town, not only did we walk away feeling like we learned something, we also found ourselves in the company of people we've known since our beginning here. That is a prediction I can accurately make.
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