Метеорологическая служба Миннесоты обеспечивает прогнозами экономику региона на фоне аномальной жары и засухи

The weather is the topic of conversation everywhere — especially as the Twin Cities rounds out its sixth hottest summer in over 150 years, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area begins recovery after a season of wildfire and the state as a whole continues to contend with persistent drought. Monitoring and sharing some of these forecasts is the National Weather Service regional office in Chanhassen. The NWS office is staffed is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year with at least one meteorologist and one hydro-meteorological technician, Beitlich explains. Weather Service personnel provide forecasts for users across Minnesota, portions of Wisconsin and the nation. The local forecast office staff consists of 13 meteorologists, four hydro-meteorological technicians, one meteorologist intern, three electronics technicians, a service hydrologist, an information technology expert, a facilities technician, and an administrative assistant. Each morning those on call gather for a video conference to report on conditions of the day at offices round the region and regional headquarters in Kansas City. Several times each day forecasts are prepared and disseminated for use by the public, broadcast media, water resources, and the aviation industry. Jake Beitlich, NWS science and operations officer, calls it a “weather enterprise” with multiple partners and multiple channels of communication. He points out that weather affects everything from airline flights, to road traffic, to school closings, utilities preparing to possible power outages, public works departments staging snow plows — the list continues, even down to individuals and their work schedules, child care considerations, and more. The office is in regular contact with the Metropolitan Airports Commission and shares information with the likes of school superintendents, public works officials, broadcast meteorologists and others through forecasts, webinars and other resources. The office even fields phone calls from the public, Beitlich points out. NWS offices are managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. government scientific agency within the Department of Commerce that studies Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, and provides vital data for weather forecasts, storm warnings, and climate monitoring. The primary mission of the NWS is to protect life and property, Beitlich said. Coincidentally given the reporting structure, the mission is also to enhance the economy. He notes that industries like agriculture, energy, construction, transportation, insurance, travel and recreation — almost everything — are weather dependent. Of major interest are seven-day forecasts which enable businesses, farmers, and commerce to plan activities that are weather sensitive. Seasonal forecasts are provided for fire weather interests, river and flood stage considerations, and recreational aviators. The Chanhassen weather office was established in 1995, when it was outside the immediate metropolitan area, as the primary forecast office for the Twin Cities region. Even now as the suburbs have spread, its state-of-the-art Doppler Radar and computer workstations give forecasters the tools to deliver timely information during critical weather. Nationally, the NWS has a staff over 4,500 employees to accomplish its mission with the assistance of high-speed computer networks, an orbiting fleet of weather satellites in space, ground-based radar systems, multiple weather models — and now even artificial intelligence. While meteorologists used to “scrape for weather data,” Beitlich said they now are trying to manage the breadth of information, weather models and information channels coming at them. Meanwhile, the accuracy of forecasting has never been better, Meteorologist and Hydrologist Shawn DeVinny adds, although never more scrutinized through reporting channels and forms of social media that have emerged in recent years. At the same time, parent organization the NOAA is facing scrutiny and federal budget cuts from a climate skeptical administration that observers say seems to make decisions on which way the wind is blowing rather than long-term scientific data. Local NWS personnel won’t comment on that, only that the scientists in that office are committed to the mission and that countless others are reliant on the information they provide. “Indirectly, everyone in the United States is our customer,” Beitlich adds. With meteorological summer in the review, the local office looks forward to more autumnal forecasting. From a temperature perspective, the Twin Cities area still experiences some of the widest ranging temperatures in the United States, yet overall, we are seeing more record highs and warmer weather deeper into fall, Beitlich said.