Cliff Mass:

The United States should be far ahead of the rest of the world in a technology that saves lives, promotes our economy, and has great strategic value.  But we are not.

As you will see, this unfortunate situation results from ineffective government bureaucracy, isolation of government weather prediction from the creative energy of the university community, and too much money leading to multiple duplicative efforts, among other reasons.   

Reason Number One:  U.S. numerical weather prediction is spread over too many agencies 

In most nations, numerical weather prediction is the responsibility of one group.  In the U.S., governmental global weather prediction is spread over FIVE efforts:

  • NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (the leading U.S. effort)
  • The US Navy
  • The US Air Force
  • NASA
  • U.S. Department of Energy