Google and U.S. Experts Join on A.I. Hurricane Forecasts
For the first time, the National Hurricane Center in Miami is working with an artificial intelligence company to improve its forecasts of the powerful storms that kill thousands of people globally every year. The Atlantic season has just begun and runs through November.
DeepMind, a Google company based in London, announced on Thursday that it was supplying the government forecasters with a newly enhanced variety of its weather forecasting models. Specialized to focus on hurricanes, the model tracks a storm's development for up to 15 days, predicting not only its path but also its strength, an ability that earlier A.I. models lacked.
Strength readings can make storm warnings far more accurate. So can reliable predictions of hurricane paths, which are known to zigzag, loop around, slow down, make hairpin turns or come to a complete stop.
The hurricane center is not eliminating its human forecasters. Instead, the Google A.I. program will be used on an experimental basis by those same experts in their existing work. Still, the research partnership is the first time in which the Miami center is drawing on an A.I. company to learn how to better warn of nature's most destructive storms.
'It's about helping people protect themselves,' Wallace Hogsett, the center's science and operations officer, said in an interview. The union of skilled human forecasters and the A.I. tool, he added, has the potential to create 'a really powerful partnership.'
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Scientists warn of dangerous phenomenon as hurricane season begins: 'Getting more intense'
With hurricane season now underway, weather forecasters are closely monitoring tropical waves, as they are often the starting point for dangerous storms. USA Today reported on how technological improvements in weather forecasting over the past two decades have allowed scientists to better track tropical waves. These waves are actually low-pressure weather patterns found in the atmosphere that typically start by moving across the Atlantic Ocean. On their own, the waves are fairly insignificant, and most have little effect on the United States beyond impacting some thunderstorms and wind intensity in Florida. Strong waves, however, especially those from the African coast, can have a major impact on the weather in the U.S. and elsewhere. "Most of the hurricanes that get strongest originate from tropical waves," Chris Landsea of the National Hurricane Center said, per USA Today. In fact, about 85% of hurricanes labeled Category 3 or higher started in tropical waves off the African coast. This makes tropical waves especially important to monitor this time of year, as the Atlantic hurricane season began June 1. As with other weather phenomena, tropical waves have changed along with the climate. Last year, for example, a tropical wave pushed farther north than normal, leading to heavy flooding in the Sahara Desert. "All the entire tropical atmosphere is changing," said Kelly Núñez, assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M, per USA Today. "Tropical waves are getting more intense with the changing climate." As more polluting, heat-trapping gases are released into the environment, more extreme weather events become commonplace. One expert has even compared a warming climate to "basically steroids for weather." Particularly with hurricanes, stronger storms have occurred with greater frequency. Research shows that the rate of major hurricanes — those labeled at least a Category 3 — has doubled since 1980. Do you think your house could withstand a hurricane? No way Maybe a weak one I'm not sure It definitely could Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The best way to deal with hurricanes is to be prepared well before any storm hits. If the power grid goes down, for example, having solar panels alongside battery storage can provide low-cost energy, even if others are dealing with extended outages. EnergySage's free service allows homeowners to compare quotes from local, vetted solar installers and save up to $10,000 on installation costs. For those who don't want the upfront cost of buying solar panels, Palmetto's LightReach program offers solar-panel leasing, enabling homeowners to lock in low energy rates and help the environment, all for no money down. To be even further prepared for hurricanes or any other extreme weather, have an emergency survival kit and an evacuation plan handy. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Android Authority
an hour ago
- Android Authority
I live between Android, Windows, iPhone, and Mac, and it's pure chaos
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority Sending a file to a laptop should be simple in 2025, right? Apparently not for me, because my tech setup is split between Apple, Google, and Microsoft. It's a frustrating multi-step process to do most things. Message my kids? Nope. Drop a file from my phone to my computer? Ya right. These are the kinds of things that happen when you live in a fragmented tech world. I come from an Android and Windows background. I'm a huge fan of Android and bought every single Nexus device from the 4 to the 6P. Now I rock a RedMagic 10 Pro. But my wife is an iPhone loyalist, and my kids use iPads. I added an iPhone to my ensemble just to stay connected, and when it was time to get a new laptop, I went with the 14 inch M1 MacBook Pro. The Apple TV 4K was inevitable. But I still use a powerful Windows PC, an Xbox, an Android tablet, and a Quest 2 VR from time to time. None of my devices work together. What's your tech ecosystem setup like? 1 votes All-in on Google/Android 0 % All-in on Apple 0 % Android and Windows 100 % Apple and Google mixed 0 % Three or more and I have a headache 0 % I don't even know any more. Help. 0 % My chaotic cross-platform setup Ryan Haines / Android Authority I swear I didn't set out to make my life this complicated. Android and Windows worked fine until I threw an iPhone into the mix. Impressed with the quality of the hardware, I found myself throwing more Apple gadgets into the mix. HomePod Mini, AirPods, and even an Apple Watch. One thing led to another, and now I'm bouncing between ecosystems just to stay connected. Windows remains the center of my digital setup. I'm a fan of Windows 11 (queue comments from the angry PC Master Race crowd). My Android phone is my primary mobile device, while my Android tablet is arguably my most-used piece of tech. However, the Apple TV 4K is second-to-none, and the HomePod Minis I have synced to it provide exceptional room-filling sound. Plus, they look cool. But then there's messages. What breaks every day Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority Messages, file-sharing, and a host of other little quality-of-life features are pure chaos thanks to this broken setup. Messaging is the worst offender. I use iMessage with my kids because it's private and secure and it just works with their iPads. I don't have to worry about them, and Apple provides excellent family safety tools. But none of that works on my Android or my PC, so I end up carrying an iPhone around just to stay in touch with my little ones. They don't have mobile numbers, so RCS isn't an option. There are very few options that are as simple and secure as iMessage, so there we are. File sharing is a close second. AirDrop is brilliant if you're all-in on Apple. Nothing else compares. Quick Share only works between Android and Windows, and even then, it's not consistent. Windows Phone Link doesn't work most of the time. If I want to move a photo from my Android to my Mac, I have to upload it to Google Drive or email it to myself and then download it again. Audio is fragmented. My HomePod Mini only works seamlessly with Apple devices. I can set up a Bluetooth connection with my Android, but Apple keeps dropping it and I need to set up a new session each time. I have a Google Nest Mini and a few Amazon Echo pucks laying around, none of which have the same sound quality as the HomePod, but at least I can use Spotify with them. Passwords are an ongoing annoyance. I was using Google Passwords and Apple Passwords and constantly updating both of them. I realize there's an Apple Passwords extension for Chrome, and I've tried it, but I like Google Passwords more. It's only worse with Passkeys. Some passkeys are easy enough to use by scanning a QR code with my phone, but others inexplicably refuse to let me sign in unless I'm on the device I used to create them, and I often forget which one that was. How I keep it all running Andy Walker / Android Authority It's not all doom and gloom in the Drescher household. I've managed to build some routines that hold everything together. Google is my glue. Calendar, Drive, and Keep allow me to keep my sanity. I recently explored trying to ditch Big Tech and go with third party apps, but it only caused even greater chaos, so I'm back to Google. My devices are split by purpose. Android as my daily driver, and my iPhone as a sort of family hub. My PC is my workhorse, but when I'm on the go my MacBook M1 Pro is a capable and reliable beast of a machine. A Plex server allows me to share media across all these devices. I've admittedly grown somewhat attached to my Apple Watch, to the dismay of my now-lonely Fitbit Charge 6. The cost of living between ecosystems Ryan Haines / Android Authority The real cost here isn't financial. It's time and mental energy. I end up wasting precious time managing sync issues, troubleshooting apps, and remembering which device has which login. I miss messages. I resend files. I get locked out of accounts. It's exhausting. Anyone who lives in a fragmented tech world knows this mental tax. You have to remember what works with what, and how to route around the things that don't. It adds up. You don't trust your tools to just work, and I suppose that was the original beauty behind the Apple ecosystem. I'm not ready to give up At this point it seems like I should just go all-in with Apple. After all, I go on about its ecosystem. But walled-off ecosystems suck in their own way. I love Android and I love gaming with my brother and friends. PC is where it's at. What we need is for non-Apple companies to get their stuff together and start creating a frictionless cross-platform ecosystem to rival Apple. Google is already on the right track, but just barely. Every platform wants you all-in with them only. None of them truly play nice with each other. Until that changes, my life will remain in a state of tech chaos.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Temu Enlists Oracle Cloud in Push to Localize US Business
Online discount shopping platform Temu has signed a cloud service agreement with Oracle Corp as the company attempts to localize more operations in the US. The PDD Holdings Inc. subsidiary, which already uses Google and Microsoft Corp. cloud services, is scaling up its US operations by expanding its local partnerships, the Chinese-owned firm said in a statement. The company did not provide details of the deal.
