NOAA improves marine and weather forecast models for the Great Lakes

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NOAA is now using enhanced weather and marine forecast models for the Great Lakes that will extend forecasts from 36 hours to 60 hours into the future to better serve commercial and recreational mariners, the shipping industry, emergency responders, water resource managers and the private weather industry.

The Great Lakes Operational Forecast System of NOAA’s National Ocean Service, which predict currents, water level and water temperature, is now running on NOAA’s National Weather Service’s powerful and reliable super computers. The super computers run around the clock, offering a more reliable computing framework to generate Great Lakes forecast models and ultimately producing more timely forecasts. GLOFS nowcasts and forecasts are online at http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/glofs.html.>

The National Weather Service provides customers with wind and wave forecasts in addition to weather forecasts for the five Great Lakes. Bringing the National Ocean Service’s forecasts under the same computing system provides the opportunity for customers to have access to Great Lakes predictions from a single source.

“We are expanding environmental modeling capabilities within NOAA by leveraging existing resources and partnerships,” said Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, a division of the National Weather Service. “This initiative will give NOAA customers better, more reliable and timely information.”

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