Impacts of Interactive Processing Systems on the Forecasting Ability of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (Appendix E)

The National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) in Kansas City has the most modern interactive processing equipment of any operational forecast office in the United States. As such, the experiences of the NSSFC serve as the indication of some of the benefits which will be derived from interactive technology when it is applied in other forecast situations. The forecast products issued by the NSSFC have become more accurate and more timely. The forecaster\u27s efficiency and productivity has noticeably improved. These improvements have been made without the introduction of any new data sources, any major advances in meteorology, or any major advances in numerical modeling. The improvements have resulted from more rapid access to data and from having computers take over many of the housekeeping chores facing a forecaster leaving more time for meteorology