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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Deepmind's GraphCast AI can produce an accurate 10-day weather forecast in under a minute.</li><li>The Google-owned company's AI model is the first that can outperform conventional forecasters.</li></ul>New research has shown that an AI model developed by Google-owned Deepmind has outperformed traditional weather forecasters for the first time.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi2336">peer-reviewed study</a>, published in the journal Science, said that Deepmind's GraphCast AI model "significantly outperformed" the conventional system for predicting the weather, which is run by the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast.The AI model can produce an accurate 10-day forecast in under a minute and represents "a turning point in weather forecasting," according to the paper."Weather prediction is one of the most challenging problems that humanity has been working on for a long, long time," Pushmeet Kohli, Deepmind's VP of research, told Business Insider."If you look at what has happened in the last few years with climate change, this is an incredibly important problem," he said.GraphCast is trained on 39 years of historical weather data from the ECMWF. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/ca5d655f-d684-4dec-8daa-1c58b0674be1">the Financial Times</a>, the research showed that GraphCast's three to 10 day weather predictions were more accurate than conventional forecasts. But Deepmind warned that the model did have some limitations compared to non-AI forecasts when dealing with the uncertainty inherent in longer-term weather forecasts.Speaking to the FT, the architects of the project said that GraphCast had been able to predict where Hurricane Lee, a powerful storm that hit North America earlier this year, would make landfall three days before traditional forecasters.ECMWF machine learning specialist Matthew Chantry told Insider that GraphCast represented "a significant and welcome step forward" for the industry.He told the FT that once trained on a wider variety of historical data, models such as GraphCast would prove to be much cheaper than current weather forecasting methods, which rely on powerful (and expensive) supercomputers."We might be talking about 1,000 times cheaper in terms of energy consumption," he said. "That is a miraculous improvement."

Deepmind's new AI could help forecast extreme weather faster

<h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">NASA/NOAA/ReutersClouds associated with a major winter storm that is bringing wintry precipitation and chilly temperatures to the US South is seen in an image from NOAA's GOES-East satellite on February 11, 2014.</div></div></div></h2><ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-how-the-partial-closure-affects-average-americans-2019-1">US government shutdown</a> is now on its 26th day, leaving some government laboratories that focus on weather and severe-storm forecasting in limbo.</li><li>Day-to-day weather forecasting is not affected, but the shutdown could impede long-term improvements to the National Weather Service's forecasting system, as well as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-weather-disasters-cost-us-record-306-billion-in-2017-noaa-2018-1">scientists' ability to model severe storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes</a>.</li><li>The US already lags behind Europe in its weather-prediction capabilities, and the shutdown is putting us further behind in the race for better forecasting.</li></ul>The longest government shutdown in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-government-shutdowns-in-congress-2018-1">US history</a> has reached its 26th day.While volunteers fight <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-national-parks-trash-government-shutdown-2019-1">trash pile-ups in national parks</a>, <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/national/miami-airport-closes-terminal-tsa-workers-refuse-work-without-pay-during-government-shutdown/ffPWCoLEoe0wEOSQArrkvJ/">airports shut down terminals</a> for lack of TSA agents, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-how-the-partial-closure-affects-average-americans-2019-1">food-safety inspections take a hit</a>, employees at the National Weather Service (NSW) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have dutifully continued to provide up-to-date weather forecasts and storm warnings."Much of NOAA National Weather Service operations are in excepted status and therefore remain in place to provide forecasts and warnings to protect lives and property," an agency spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider.To assuage any concerns about the shutdown's <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/01/07/national-weather-service-is-open-your-forecast-is-worse-because-shutdown/?utm_term=.30aec2faa90a">impact on day-to-day weather forecasting</a>, NOAA's deputy administrator Neil Jacobs published an <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/weather-prediction-still-accurate-even-during-shutdown/article_6944faba-15d3-11e9-96ea-b79ddbf38e0b.html">op-ed in the Post and Courier</a> reassuring Americans about the accuracy of the government's predictions."During the recent partial lapse in appropriations, the National Weather Service has continued to perform this critical function with no degradation in forecast skill or model performance," he wrote.But experts say the shutdown will still hamper scientists' ability to improve US weather forecasting in the long term.Chris Nowotarski, assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&amp;M University, told Business Insider that improving weather models - which allow meteorologists to make predictions based on real-time observations - requires continuous research. But right now, that's on hold."The shutdown halts any progress we can make in terms of weather models," he said.This hurts our chances of saving lives in future storms and puts the US even further behind in a global race with Europe for forecasting dominance. <h2>Europe is pulling ahead</h2>Atmospheric scientists and meteorologists tend to agree about one thing: Europe is better than the US (and arguably the rest of the world) at predicting weather.The <a href="http://www.weather.gov/">NWS</a> has been falling behind the <a href="http://www.ecmwf.int/">European Centre for Medium Range- Weather Forecasting</a> for some time. A key example was Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Whereas the US' Global Forecasting System predicted that Sandy would dissipate over the Atlantic, the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/the-european-forecast-model-already-kicking-americas-butt-just-improved/">European model was the only one</a> that showed the storm heading toward the East Coast.Getting ahead in the forecasting race is more than just a matter of prestige, Antonio Busalacchi, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, told Business Insider."When it comes down to it, developing world-class models means protecting life and property and national security," he said. "We don't want to be second in any of this ... we want to be first."Weather models can improve in three ways. First, the equations that model pressure systems in the atmosphere can get more accurate. Second, models can better incorporate real-time weather data. And third, scientists can increase <a href="https://www.ecmwf.int/en/about/media-centre/news/2016/new-forecast-model-cycle-brings-highest-ever-resolution">a model's resolution</a> by taking <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/the-european-forecast-model-already-kicking-americas-butt-just-improved/">weather measurements from more points around the globe</a>. Europe is far ahead on this last one: it takes data from 904 million prediction points and has 10 times more computing power than the US does to crunch those numbers.Many US officials understand the need to improve forecasting - the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/353">Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act</a>, which President Trump signed into law in 2017, charges NOAA with prioritizing weather research to improve data, modeling, forecasts, and warnings.But with the shutdown, the research required to accomplish those goals is paused."There's been all this money earmarked towards this effort, but during the shutdown, much of the people at like, the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, are sidelined," Nowotarski said. "That's 25 days we're not working to catch up."Fred Carr, professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology, put it simply: "The longer the shutdown, the more it'll hurt us." <h2>R&amp;D is 'dead in the water'</h2>Nicholas Bond, a research scientist at the University of Washington with ties to NOAA, told Business Insider that the shutdown is affecting weather research in several key ways."There are changes that happen in the forecasting model year to year," he said, "but you need people to make those changes and improvements, like scientists and some contractors. Both groups are kind of dead in the water."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Mariana Bazo/ReutersScientists release a weather balloon for a test at Callao port on the Pacific Ocean coast October 2, 2008.</div></div></div>One key example: The US' Global Forecasting System is slated to get a significant upgrade - known as FV3 - which will be the system's most significant boost since 1980.In Jacobs' <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/weather-prediction-still-accurate-even-during-shutdown/article_6944faba-15d3-11e9-96ea-b79ddbf38e0b.html">recent op-ed</a>, the NOAA deputy administrator said, "development work on implementing this upgrade will continue following the end of the partial lapse in funding." In other words: it's held up by the shutdown. The new code for FV3 was supposed to be in by the end of this month, Carr said, but "since the shutdown, final testing on that has been stopped and the new model implementation has probably been delayed."Such delays prevent climate scientists from "making the same sort of strides forward that we otherwise would," Bond said. "This kind of knocks us off our game." <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">APAntonio Garces tries to recover belongings from his house, which was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in Aguacate, Cuba, October 25, 2012.</div></div></div>What's more, American scientists and meteorologists are seeing in their opportunities for collaboration stymied. Take, for example, the annual American Meteorological Society Conference - the world's largest gathering for the weather and climate community - which was held last week."Basically the feds couldn't go," Bond said. "A substantial fraction of the attendees had to miss out on that chance to talk with colleagues." That's work that could have led to forecasting improvements.<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09012019/government-shutdown-climate-data-loss-scientific-research-delays-hurricane-forecasting-wildfires-algae-noaa-nasa">Inside Climate News</a> reported that the EPA even <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-12/documents/agency_shutdown_faqs_12282018.pdf">warned</a> its employees that if they fund their own travel to conferences like that during the shutdown, they can't represent themselves as federal employees, moderate or participate in panels, or present data.<h2>Missing the tornado season</h2>Predicting the nature of severe storms in the future could also be tougher because of this shutdown. NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory studies <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meteorology-professors-explain-how-dangerous-tornadoes-form-2017-5">tornadoes</a>, flash floods, lightning, damaging winds, hail, and winter weather. It's out of commission right now, as is its Hazardous Weather Testbed, which acts as the primary lab for improving the US' hazardous weather forecasting."The ramifications for a prolonged shutdown could include losing a year in terms of advancing our abilities for severe-storm prediction," Nowotarski said. "Even though weather events aren't occurring right now, the off-season is when we make all our advancements for the actual season."Plus, Nowotarski added, winter is tornado season in the southeastern US. NOAA's tornado-research program, known as VORTEX-Southeastern, is also down right now, so it isn't collecting information that could be used later to improve weather models."Even this weekend, there's a severe weather event we'd be operating on, and we can't go and be there on the ground because it's NOAA funded," Nowotarski said.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Gene Blevins/ReutersA severe thunderstorm wall cloud is seen over the area of Canton, Mississippi, April 29, 2014.</div></div></div>Research into hurricane forecasting is taking a hit, too. Many scientists at NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami are required to work without pay during the shutdown. But Eric Blake, a union representative at the center, told<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09012019/government-shutdown-climate-data-loss-scientific-research-delays-hurricane-forecasting-wildfires-algae-noaa-nasa"> Inside Climate News</a> that their work is limited "to only essential lifesaving activities, which means current weather.'""This is the time of year that the center's scientists work on improving their forecasting models," Blake added."We can't do any research and development for the next hurricane season."NOAA employees also use the hurricane off-season to update their website, conduct preparedness trainings with state emergency managers, and do outreach to the public. A shutdown means those trainings aren't happening, either."If we're still shut down in February and March, that will really impair the upcoming season," Busalacchi said. "As it stands, NOAA personnel aren't able to go into the field and prepare vulnerable communities for hurricane season."<h2>Demoralizing forecast</h2>To Carr, who has served on many <a href="https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/about-ams/ams-election-information/2014-elections/2015-ams-president-elect/frederick-h-carr/">NOAA and American Meteorological Society committees</a>, the real problem with the shutdown is that the "dedicated people in NOAA are not getting paid."Bond said he's lucky to still be getting a paycheck through the University of Washington, but he's normally based in a NOAA laboratory. "I can't use my primary office and the tools that I have there," he said. "My research is being hampered right now."When it comes to weather forecasts in the future, the difference this lost research time could have made will be hard to quantify. "It hasn't affected you, probably - forecasting models are running more or less as they would have," Nowotarski said. "But the impact comes in May, or during the next tornado season, when the forecast might not be as good as it could be because we haven't been able to test new products properly and incorporate them into our forecasting."On the ground, we'll never know what we're missing. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-el-nino-la-nina-weather-hurricanes-storms-2017-10">How El Niño and La Niña affect weather</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

The government shutdown is putting the US further behind in a weather-forecasting race with Europe

London, Jul 2 () Scientists have employed methods normally used to forecast weather to predict how rapidly COVID-19 could spread in different countries as lockdown is eased, as well as assess the effectiveness of measures put in place. An international team, including meteorologists from the University of Reading in the UK, applied data assimilation, a technique that combines multiple sources of information to estimate how a situation will develop over time, to the pandemic. The study, submitted to the journal Foundations of Data Science, suggests it is possible to make reasonably accurate predictions of how easing measures might affect the spread of the virus up to two weeks in advance. This technique is usually used to pair computer simulations with real weather observations to forecast future weather, the researchers said. "A key result from this work is that we can estimate accurately how the reproductive (R) number varies in time in response to implementing or loosing up various mitigation measures," said Professor Geir Evensen, from the NORCE: Norwegian Research Centre, who led the study. R number is the number of people a person with COVID-19 is likely to infect. Previous computer model forecasts can be tested against the subsequent weather data to help make future short-term predictions more accurate, the researchers said. When applied to the novel coronavirus, observations including hospital admissions, the number of patients in intensive care, and the number of daily deaths can be combined with models calculating risk of vulnerability, exposure, infection and death, according to the researchers. "Most data is uncertain to some degree, but combining as much of it as possible from different sources can iron out some of this uncertainty when predicting future events," said Javier Amezcua, one of three Reading scientists that worked on the study. "Meteorologists use this method all the time to understand and forecast natural processes like weather, but its uses extend beyond that," Amezcua said. The study allows estimations to be made of how situations will develop in different scenarios, and can be used to create longer-term forecasts, the researchers said. This means it could be useful to predict the impact changes of lockdown policies, such as reopening schools and shops or increasing permitted socialising, might have on the spread of infections, they said. The team applied the technique to estimate coronavirus spread in eight different countries around the world -- England, France, the Netherlands, Norway, the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina -- which have all seen the virus spread in different ways. SAR SAR

Scientists use weather forecasting technique to predict COVID-19 spread

<ul class="summary-list"><ul class="summary-list"><li>Weather apps are tech's sleeper hit.</li><li>Data shows we're addicted, even when they don't work that well.</li></ul></ul>What's the temperature right now, wherever you're reading this?Chances are you can answer with a decent level of confidence — even if you haven't left the house today — because we're all living our lives with mini digital weather bureaus in our pockets.The Guardian is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/17/weather-apps-addiction-climate-crisis-anxiety">rather boldly reporting</a> that weather apps have become an "addiction." And these apps have become big business.According to a <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/health/articles-reports/2023/05/08/how-and-where-americans-get-information-weather">recent YouGov poll</a>, apps are the number one source for weather information among Americans, used by 53% of people. <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/weather-app-market-report#:~:text=The%20global%20weather%20app%20market,technology%20to%20improve%20their%20business">A report by market research company Grand View Research</a> valued the industry at over $800 million in 2022, and estimated it could grow to $1.4 billion by 2028. And yet as anyone who's been caught in a rainstorm with no umbrella knows, it's not really clear that these apps actually do their job all that well.Eric Floehr, who founded a company called ForecastWatch that analyzes weather forecasts, told The Guardian that while weather apps are overall more accurate than they used to be, they still suck at a lot of things, like certain types of long-term forecasting, or accurately predicting the weather for certain areas.At best, weather apps "perform about as well as meteorologists, but some of the most popular ones fare much worse," <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/04/weather-apps-forecast-predictions-information-overload/673648/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charlie Warzel recently wrote</a> in The Atlantic.Still, there's a weather app for everyone: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.williamking.whattheforecast&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sassy weather apps</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grailr.carrotweather&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US" target="_blank" rel="noopener">irreverent weather apps</a>, <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weather-fit-outfit-planner/id1194408342" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fashion-conscious weather apps</a>, <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id486154808?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">practical weather apps</a>, and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.enzuredigital.weatherbomb&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aesthetic weather apps</a>. And then there's the big gun: The Weather Channel app, which had over 55 million monthly active users in 2020 — more than the <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/most-popular-news-apps-uk-us-2022/">most downloaded news app in the US</a>, NewsBreak, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=c3cc1e994ded29a379ef155d4c13cd30ec9726a47a87a6444b4268db506be345&amp;postID=64b64a587e1bbd0b48533187&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fparticle-media-inc-%2Flife%2F6959a80f-a841-48ce-bbd0-f93a552fc432%2F">which reports it has 40 million</a>.And it's a smart business model. A weather app can use US government data (and many do, The Guardian reported) which is free to use for any purpose, <a href="https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api#:~:text=As%20a%20public%20service%20of,ensure%20that%20everyone%20has%20access">according to the National Weather Service's website</a>. They can then make money by <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/gy77wy/stop-using-third-party-weather-apps">using your location data</a>, feeding in ads, or <a href="http://www.meetcarrot.com/weather/presskit.html">charging for fun add-ons</a> such as customization and sharing options. Weather apps are also able to avoid a lot of the controversy that surrounds other tech business models: they're not <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-twitter-plans-risk-more-scams-and-misinformation-experts-2022-11">dealing with a stream of misinformation</a> or <a href="https://www.insider.com/airbnb-bait-and-switch-scam-how-to-get-money-back-2023-2">scams</a>, or <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48916828">harassment on their platforms that they need to moderate</a>, or a gig-economy model that raises <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-driver-lost-uk-legal-battle-court-worker-rights-employment-2021-2">legal</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-warehouse-raises-workers-leaked-documents-2022-10">ethical</a> considerations.Over-complicated social-media innovators <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-alternatives-social-media-discord-mastodon-hive-cohost-truth-2023-2">think they can win by creating the next Twitter</a>, but in this economy, perhaps they'd be better off creating the next weather channel instead.

In this economy, the winner is weather apps

In computers, the term <keyword id="22518" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="flop">FLOP</keyword> stands for Floating Point Operations Per Second, telling you exactly how many operations a processor is capable of performing each second. A teraflop means one million million FLOPs, while a petaflop represents one thousand million million FLOPs. Remember this as you read further. Around 2007-08, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) was conducting <keyword id="6359992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="weather">weather</keyword> research using a 7 teraflop computer. In 2018, it uses the power of <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s fastest <keyword id="6537818" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="supercomputer">supercomputer</keyword>, named Pratyush, and its whopping 6.8 petaflops of power. That's 6800000000000000 FLOPs, in case you were wondering. It's mind-boggling math, Isn’t it? So much power Contrary to what many believe, Pratyush is composed of two different High Performance Computing (HPC) units. The name Pratyush is given to the unit at IITM, while there's another unit (called Mihir), at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWA) in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Together, the two HPCs, contribute 4 petaflops and 2.8 petaflops respectively, bringing the total power up to 6.8 petaflops. This is the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world in the weather and climate domain. And all of this power is used to predict the weather as accurately as possible. Why weather? Weather in India is no small talk. The inclement weather events are fast mutating the economic misfortunes of the country. The Indian <keyword id="6358301" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="monsoon">monsoon</keyword> is a critical driver for the country's farm-dependent $2 trillion economy, as at least half the farmlands are heavily dependent on rain. With the recent spate of unpredictable weather events, climate change stakes are becoming real for India. According to an economic survey published in 2017, these weather events are costing India anywhere between $9-10 billion annually and climate change is projected to impact agricultural productivity with increasing severity from 2020 to the end of the century. And to make matters worse, the Indian monsoon is one of the most complex climate systems of the world. The geographic location of India make the system more difficult to simulate and predict. Pratyush with its super computational capacity, though, has been able to make it significantly accurate. Its vast computing ability helps map regions of the country at a 12km resolution for weather forecasts. Why do you need a supercomputer to predict weather? A few years ago, scientists at IITM had to wait for about six hours for calculations to be completed. With their brand new computer, this takes four hours. "Weather and climate forecasting are computationally intensive," says Dr. Suryachandra A. Rao, Project Director at Pratyush. You're probably wondering why two hours matter, right? Well, it likely doesn't. Not without context anyway. The supercomputer allows scientists to predict the weather significantly more accurately and in lesser time, which is what matters. Weather forecasting is done using equations, Rao explained. These equations are solved at different imaginary points on the globe. Earlier, the IITM used to predict data using points placed at every 200 square kilometre, which was later brought down to 100 sq. km. With the help of Pratyush, they have now brought the distance down to 12 square kilometres. These points are akin to pixels on a camera sensor, represented by megapixels. Higher megapixel count (theoretically) allows better quality images. Similarly, closer the dots are placed, more accurate the weather forecast can be. And just like pixels are to cameras, this is just one aspect of weather forecasting. Furthermore, the Earth's atmosphere consists of different layers, 64 to be precise, and the equations have to be run for each of these layers. So, the equations aren't just performed at each dot, but at different layers on these dots. The dots are spread over the entire globe, meaning the actual number of combinations is unimaginable. In fact, Rao says there are 40 levels of the ocean that aren't considered at the moment. To take those into account, the computational power required will be even more, and weather prediction would be more accurate too. See why all that power is required? No? There's more. Scientists don't just run the calculations once. That would be most inefficient. The calculations are run 20 to 30 times, changing variables like temperature, humidity etc. This is done to reduce uncertainty and keep predictions as accurate as possible. But the supercomputer is just a kernel of the weather forecasting process. Reams of data that is sputtered out is then matched with the human computational genius, when chief scientist Rao and his team rack their heads to interpret and compare this data. A rare scene where big data and humans do not bristle, but align to reach a common goal. With a supercomputer worth a whopping Rs. 450 crores (approx. $65 million) brought on and tasked to do weather forecasting, weather conversations should bump itself up from their ‘small talk’ status.

Here's how the  fastest supercomputer in India helps predict the weather

San Francisco, Oct 10 (IANS) As there will be more pandemics and epidemics after Covid-19, the world needs to be prepared and a research team at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has been working to make epidemiological forecasting as universal as weather forecasting. When COVID hit, they launched COVIDcast to develop data monitoring and forecasting resources that can help public health officials, researchers, and the public make informed decisions. "Our forecasting system has been a top performer at the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) annual forecasting challenges. I like to think of COVIDcast as a replica of what we've done for the flu but better and faster," said Ryan Tibshirani, a research lead at CMU. Last month, CMU received $1 million from Google.org and a team of 13 Google.org Fellows to work pro bono for six months to help continue building out COVIDcast. This was part of Google.org's $100 million commitment to COVID relief. The 'COVIDcast' project is about building and providing an ecosystem for COVID-19 tracking and forecasting. "Our aim is to support informed decision-making at federal, state, and local levels of government, in the healthcare sector, and beyond," Tibshirani said in a Google post. "We share both our data and a range of software tools -- from data processing and visualization to sophisticated statistical tools". With the Google funding, the research team hopes they can help accelerate their progress and introduce themselves to leading industry product and software development techniques. "The tech sector is uniquely positioned to provide data and platforms that even governments can't provide. It also has the skills and experience to quickly assemble large-scale systems, in real time. Google has been extraordinarily helpful to us on all of these fronts," Tibshirani said. --IANS na/

This researcher is tracking Covid-19 with Google's help

<ul><li>Monsoon is expected to bring above-average rain showers in the coming two weeks, according to weather officials. </li><li>The weekend — 27-28 July — will receive heavy rainfall in states of Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and Uttarakhand among others. </li><li> Last week, India witnessed low rainfall, 35% below average. </li><li>The monsoon rainfall accounts for 70% of India’s annual rainfall.</li></ul>Monsoons have started late across the country, but looks like they will have an extended run. In the coming two weeks, monsoons are expected to bring in the much needed showers, according to weather officials. “In the next two weeks, we are likely to get above average rainfall, which will be well distributed across the country,” said A K Srivastava, head of the climate research division, <keyword id="6355166" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-meteorological-department">India Meteorological Department</keyword> (IMD)<a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/us-india-monsoon/india-to-get-above-average-monsoon-rains-in-next-two-weeks-idINKCN1UK1L7"> told </a>Reuters. Rainy weekend The weekend — 27 to 28 July — will receive heavy rainfall in states of Rajasthan, coastal Maharashtra, Goa, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, interior Maharashtra and Odisha. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Indian Cities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Minimum temp (°C) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Maximum temp (°C) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Forecast </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Delhi </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">26 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">33 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Cloudy, moderate rains </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Mumbai </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">24 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">30 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Intermittent and heavy rains </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Kolkata </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">26 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">33 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Thundershowers, light rainfall </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Pune </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">22 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">29 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Moderate rains </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Chennai </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">23 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">34 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Light rainfall </td></tr></tbody></table> Other states with high rainfall and thunderstorms include coastal Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, Meghalaya, Gujarat and Jharkhand. However, in the national capital Delhi, rains will come with bad air quality, the weather report said. The IMD <keyword id="51704" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="weather-forecast">weather forecast</keyword> aligns with predictions of the<a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/strong-monsoon-over-central-india-may-last-for-a-fortnight/article28690027.ece"> Climate Prediction Centre</a> of the US <keyword id="108482" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Weather-Service">National Weather Service</keyword>, which too had predicted monsoon showers between 1-8 August. Drought &amp; Floods This year India had faced extreme weather conditions — floods and droughts. While Chennai is battling water crisis, Assam is struggling with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/no-water-no-food-no-shelter-15-devastating-photos-show-how-destructive-assam-and-bihar-floods-are/articleshow/70291696.cms">floods</a>. Overall, the monsoon was deficient by 17% which impacted the crops. The most affected are cotton and groundnut crops in Gujarat. This late monsoons will bring cheer to Indian farmers and yield summer-sown crops, which have been sagging due to low rainfall. “Good rainfall in the next few days can bring down stress level and accelerate sowing,” said Prerana Desai, Head of Research at Edelweiss Rural &amp; Corporate Services. Over half of the arable land banks on monsoon rains for cultivation as they account for 70% of India’s total rainfall. According to the Agriculture Ministry, crop plantation has been low with summer crop plantation spreading over 56.7 million hectares of land this year. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-is-facing-two-extreme-weather-conditions-together-drought-and-floods-/articleshow/70273165.cms">Bone dry or deluge — the freakish monsoon is killing Indians either way</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/chennai-gets-monsoon-showers-but-its-too-little-to-solve-the-water-crisis/articleshow/70342615.cms">Chennai gets monsoon showers, but its too little to solve the water crisis</a>

Top Indian cities brace for a wet weekend after Met Dept forecast two weeks of 'above average' rain

A massive blizzard due to hit the Northeast this weekend will produce "significant if not life-threatening impacts," the National Weather Service reported early this morning.Blizzard watches have been issued for the entire New England coastline north of Cape Cod, according to <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/02/13/blizzard_coming_hurricane_force_winds_snow_and_whiteout_conditions_heading.html">Slate</a>, and wind and pressure conditions could resemble those of a category 2 or 3 hurricane, the National Weather Service reported.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Another winter storm was taking aim at the winter-weary U.S. Northeast on Saturday, threatening blizzard conditions and severe cold in parts of New England already buried under six feet (1.8 meters) of snow, forecasters said.The latest storm was tracking east across the Great Lakes and was expected to gather strength as it approaches the Atlantic coast, spreading a blast of arctic air and snow from Virginia to southern Canada, the National Weather Service said.The most severe weather was poised for the New England coast from Saturday into Sunday, the National Weather Service said.Boston, which has received about 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow in a trio of record-setting storms over the past three weeks, is bracing for as much as 14 inches (36 cm) of new accumulation, forecasts indicate.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Blizzard conditions are also expected in Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, New Hampshire and coastal Maine, AccuWeather predicted.Farther south, snow accumulation up to three inches (7.6 cm) was expected from Washington D.C. to New York City.The system will also bring bitter cold temperatures and wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour), meteorologists said.With the newest band of winter weather, the town of Alton, New Hampshire called off its annual ice carnival set for the weekend due to concerns over massive snow squalls and freezing wind. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-men-cheat-affair-love-sex-psychotherapist-2015-1">Research Reveals Why Men Cheat, And It's Not What You Think</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9vdnlycjo8Di2vj5XaYNQCb3Cc2NYbee" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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