AccuWeather Does Not Support Project 2025 Plan to Fully Commercializing NWS Operations; NOAA has Critical Role in American Weather Enterprise

Published Jul 10, 2024 9:33 AM EDT

AccuWeather Chief Executive Officer Steven R. Smith said “AccuWeather does not agree with the view, and AccuWeather has not suggested, that the National Weather Service (NWS) should fully commercialize its operations. The authors of ‘Project 2025’ used us as an example of forecasts and warnings provided by private sector companies without the knowledge or permission of AccuWeather.”

AccuWeather has long supported the mandate set forth in the National Academies Fair Weather: Effective Partnerships in Weather and Climate Services report, clarifying the roles of the public, private, and academic sectors of the American Weather Enterprise, which has served the country well for decades. Each sector plays a critical role in understanding, observing, forecasting, and helping warn communities of danger; and plays an important part in building a Weather-Ready Nation. AccuWeather played an important role, along with other stakeholders, in setting the foundation for the release of the Fair Weather Report.

This multisector approach to weather forecasting, with support from the National Research Council, the National Weather Association, and the American Meteorological Society and enshrined into law by the U.S. Congress, has saved countless lives and significantly reduced the adverse impact of weather on the economy by hundreds of billions of dollars. It has been a cornerstone of the world-renowned success of the American Weather Enterprise.

NOAA/NWS’ value to the American people and businesses is maximized when the government maintains a strong focus and performance on its important core role:

Maintaining the most comprehensive weather infrastructure for the United States and developing the world’s best numerical weather prediction models and forecast guidance.
Disseminating all foundational weather data, including, but not limited to, radar, satellite, and observations on an equal-opportunity basis to support a vibrant American Weather Enterprise.
Issuing weather warnings and watches to the public for severe weather that threatens life and property.

Further focus by NOAA on these specific important roles, as opposed to other distracting activities, are critical in order for the agency to fulfil its mission and life-saving impact, working collaboratively with the entire American Weather Enterprise.

For example, NOAA foundational weather data is one of 190 sources that AccuWeather uses as inputs into our proprietary and patented Forecast Engine (SWIFT), which also uses AI, 250 patents, the expertise of more than 100 meteorologists, and over 60 years of intellectual capital to generate our forecasts and warnings with proven Superior Accuracy. We also collaborate with dozens of leading National Meteorological and Hydrological Services worldwide. Through these partnerships, and our unique blend of machine learning and expert human experience, AccuWeather has been able to create the largest repository of weather information on Earth. This enables us to develop specialized products and services tailored to the specific needs of businesses, communities, and individuals.

In turn, AccuWeather partners with NOAA and dozens of other government agencies across the globe to share life-saving weather alerts with the public across our free AccuWeather digital properties, which are used by billions of people worldwide. We also distribute NOAA severe weather warnings and watches in real time to hundreds of radio and television stations and on our own AccuWeather Network and AccuWeather NOW® streaming channel, reaching tens of millions of people in the United States at no cost.

Recognizing the importance of multisector collaboration, AccuWeather was proud to become one of the first NOAA Weather Ready-Nation Ambassadors when the program was first initiated in February 2014. The AccuWeather team was also later recognized as a 2022 Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence by the NWS.

The American public and economy are best served when all entities provide their expertise, capabilities, and contributions to the common goal of best informing the public and protecting lives and property through accurate and timely forecasts and warnings. Virtually all of the “last mile” weather information which reaches the American people and businesses is provided by the United States weather industry of which AccuWeather is one of the top members.

Smith said, “AccuWeather is extremely proud of our track record of Superior Accuracy, but it has never been our goal to take over the provision of all weather information. We recognize there are many sources for weather in today’s digital world. Importantly, not all sources provide equal value. People and businesses continually trust AccuWeather because of the proven superior value of our forecasts, warnings and descriptions of weather impacts, often providing a more accurate forecast with greater advance notice of impending severe weather.”

More than 100 times every year, AccuWeather has been documented to provide more accurate, more advance notification of significant and extreme weather events that impact business and threaten the health, welfare, and lives of individuals. For example, AccuWeather was the only source to issue a potentially life-saving forecast track for the storm that would become Hurricane Beryl on Thursday, June 27 – a full 28 hours before the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and all other known sources issued their first track forecast. In addition to exclusively providing more advance notice, AccuWeather’s track forecast for the storm averaged 12% greater accuracy as compared to the NHC and AccuWeather’s forecast of the storm’s winds along its path were 8% more accurate as compared to the NHC.