NORFOLK, Va. — This week marks the start of my 30th year at 13News Now, and things have changed!
My hair has gotten a little thinner and my waistline a little thicker, but the advancements in meteorology and computer technology have changed faster than a wind shift at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront!
In 1995, weather maps and data were still being printed out on dot matrix printers. Most weather offices had map walls where you stood, looking at the maps to make a forecast. Now, the black-and-white maps have been replaced by high-resolution digital maps, accessible online.
And the computers that make those forecasts have come a long way! The computers used to be so slow that the old joke was it took 15 hours to make a 12-hour forecast!
However, advancements in supercomputers led to faster computers that could make millions upon millions of more calculations every second. Data grids that were once 90 square kilometers are now down to 1.5-kilometer squares.
In 1995, it was standard to get a forecast out to 48 or 60 hours. Now, it’s not uncommon for these computers to make 10-, 12-, or even 16-day forecasts!
While we haven’t started a 13-day forecast here just yet, in 1995, 4- or 5-day forecasts were standard.
But it’s not just the length of time of the forecast, the accuracy has improved as well! According to the National Hurricane Center, in the 1990s, the margin of error for the 3-day forecast position of tropical systems was around 240 miles. Today, it’s under 80 miles. And the five-day margin of error is around 160 miles.
Also in 1995, the National Weather Service in Wakefield opened, giving coastal Virginia and North Carolina coverage with the newly developed and installed WSR-88D Doppler Radar. This advanced Doppler radar now gives us high-resolution data where we can see tornadoes and severe thunderstorms as they form, providing more advanced warning to life-threatening weather.
And, of course, everyone’s life has changed with the introduction of the internet and smartphones. Now, minute-by-minute forecasts are available at your fingertips, generated by those same supercomputers I mentioned earlier.
But rest assured that the 13News Now weather team will always be here, in fair weather and foul, to guide you through your day and help you plan your week.