National Weather Service Forecast Office

     The invention of the computer along with continued advances in digital technology during the second half of the 20th Century have revolutionized the science of meteorology and weather forecasting.  Today, National Weather Service local forecasters have an abundance of observational data and numerical model output at their disposal, that forecasters 50 years ago could only have imagined.  Despite the incredible advances in observational and forecasting technology, the methods of weather forecast preparation have changed very little.  As a result, there has been a growing reservoir of weather information contained by meteorologists at National Weather Service local forecast offices that has had a rather limited distribution.  Fortunately for National Weather Service customers, this situation is now improving.

 Recent advances in the technology of forecast preparation will soon allow local forecasters to provide weather information to their customers in new and more exciting ways.  Forecasters will continue to provide textual forecasts, which are used widely by the public and the media.  In addition, detailed tabular and colorful graphical forecasts will also be provided.  This triad of textual, tabular, and graphical forecasts will be made possible by the implementation of the "Interactive Forecast Preparation System" at all 122 National Weather Service local forecast offices nationwide by the end of 2003.

 The "Interactive Forecast Preparation System" is a software application that allows forecasters to create a digital forecast database.  National Weather Service forecasters will continue to observe, analyze, and diagnose the current weather situation and trends, and then formulate a prognosis using their expertise and local knowledge.  Forecasters will then translate their prognosis of the future weather situation into a digital database containing specific values for various weather elements such as temperature, wind direction and speed, wave heights, and probability of precipitation.  Textual, tabular, and graphical forecast products will then be formatted from the digital forecast database and made available on the web.  In addition, the digital forecast database itself will be available for interested users.

 This new forecast preparation scheme will ensure that a wealth of weather information is conveyed from the local forecaster to the community.  At the Key West Weather Forecast Office, we have been experimenting with this new system for over a year.  We anticipate that the "Interactive Forecast Preparation System" will enhance the quality and availability of weather forecasts, thereby improving the service we provide to our customers and partners here in the Florida Keys.