THIS ARTICLE IS republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
When a hurricane or tornado starts to form, your local weather forecasters can quickly pull up maps tracking its movement and showing where it’s headed. But have you ever wondered where they get all that information?
The forecasts can seem effortless, but behind the scenes, a vast network of satellites, airplanes, radar, computer models, and weather analysts are providing access to the latest data—and warnings when necessary. This data comes from analysts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, known as NOAA, and its National Weather Service.
Atmospheric