Storm Prediction Center Still Uses Paper Maps 75 Years After First Tornado Forecast
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 18
Storm Prediction Center Still Uses Paper Maps 75 Years After First Tornado Forecast
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 18
More than three dozen Storm Prediction Center forecasters still plot severe-weather setups on paper maps with colored pencils, even as they use AI, radar and satellites to track storms in real time.
Bill Bunting, the center’s deputy director, said hand analysis helps meteorologists absorb atmospheric patterns differently; he was leaning over paper maps as a tornado watch was issued for Chicago.
The practice traces back to 1948, when two meteorologists used paper maps and pencils to produce the first successful tornado forecast after a twister hit an Oklahoma military base five days earlier.
About 25 miles from that original base, the center now works year-round in shifts, monitoring thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds and wildfire weather across the entire U.S. rather than one local territory.
How will new storm intensity ratings change the way communities prepare for the most destructive tornadoes and hail?
Can AI ever truly replicate the human intuition forecasters develop by using simple paper and colored pencils?
Is the government's use of paper maps a secret weapon for forecasting or an outdated risk to public safety?