Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
A week after deadly Texas flooding, hope fades but resilience grows. Chevron right
Recovery teams, displaced residents in Texas face brutal heat. Chevron right

Columbus, OH

71°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

71°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Weather News

AccuWeather to offer users innovative flu forecasts from University of Virginia's Biocomplexity Institute

By Ashley Williams, AccuWeather staff writer

Copied

A new agreement between AccuWeather and researchers at the University of Virginia's Biocomplexity Institute will soon bring cutting-edge flu forecasting technology to AccuWeather app users, helping to increase the level of flu knowledge and awareness for people across the United States.

The strategic partnership will allow AccuWeather to provide its users with information about projected flu outbreaks in specified regions before an outbreak occurs.

Prior to the agreement, brands were limited to targeting regions already experiencing flu outbreaks.

Through the partnership, brands can now partner with AccuWeather to deliver messages to consumers in U.S. counties weeks ahead of an outbreak.

This is made possible through EpiCaster, a disease surveillance tool that enables University of Virginia scientists to forecast how certain regions could be impacted by the flu.

Stethoscope

The disease surveillance and forecast platform was originally developed to help guide the U.S. government’s response to West Africa’s Ebola outbreak in 2014.

“EpiCaster gathers data from lots of different sources, combines it, runs it through a couple of simulation models and then fuses those together to offer forecasts relevant to particular stakeholders,” said Bryan Lewis, associate research professor at the Biocomplexity Institute of U. Virginia.

Biocomplexity Institute researchers, who are experts in fields including epidemiology, computer science and physics, use surveillance data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and also monitor Google health trends and social media posts related to possible flu cases.

“If you see people starting to Google a bit more about a disease, it might be that the disease is on the uptick there,” Lewis said.

Researchers use that information to run different simulation techniques for predicting how and when the flu could further spread in the future.

The flu forecasts intend to help people take actions that will benefit the health of themselves and family members, including getting the flu vaccine.

“You’ll get a two-week lead time for the vaccine, or you can make better decisions, much like from a weather forecast, like if you need to pack an umbrella or take that warm coat with you if it’s going to be chilly in the afternoon,” Lewis said.

However, unlike with weather forecasting, members of the public will have the potential to influence the outcome of flu forecasts.

RELATED:

AccuWeather helps brands get ahead of the flu with application of Virginia Tech's EpiCaster outbreak projections
Now is the time to protect yourself from the flu
5 unexpected ways cold may threaten your health

“If you make a good forecast for an infectious disease, people are able to control something about it,” said Zane Reynolds, advanced software innovation architect at the Biocomplexity Institute.

“For example, if we were to say, ‘the flu is going to be really bad in your town,’ you might not send your kids to school, you might wear a mask or you’re careful about washing your hands; you can actually affect that forecast, so it won’t become as bad as it was predicted,” Reynolds said.

As disease forecasting is still in its infancy, U. Virginia researchers hope that the partnership will help increase the accessibility of forecasts for the flu and other diseases for members of the public in the future.

“We want to make disease forecasting have the same levels of vigor, quality and pervasiveness that weather forecasting has, because we think it will actually change the way people are likely to behave,” said Madhav Marathe, computer science professor and the Biocomplexity Institute’s lab director.

“People almost always look at the weather to decide what clothing they’ll wear and decide to make changes in their activity, and we think that disease forecasting can have a similar effect as it gets better,” added Marathe, who played a key role in developing the EpiCaster system.

Flu forecasts are expected to be made available to AccuWeather users by spring of 2018.

Report a Typo

Weather News

Weather News

A week after deadly Texas flooding, hope fades but resilience grows

Jul. 10, 2025
Severe Weather

Rounds of severe storms to rattle, drench central US

Jul. 10, 2025
video

Abandoned cars submerged by severe flooding in North Carolina

Jul. 10, 2025
video

Before-and-after pictures show devastation caused by Texas floods

Jul. 9, 2025
Severe Weather

Severe weather to rumble in the central US through the holiday weekend

Jul. 6, 2025
Weather News

Record sargassum seaweed piles up on Caribbean islands, Gulf

Jul. 2, 2025
Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather Forecasts

Texas Hill Country recovery, cleanup teams to face brutal July weather

16 hours ago

Weather News

State inspection before floods found Camp Mystic had emergency plan

21 hours ago

Weather News

Deadly flash flooding devastates wildfire-scarred New Mexico town

9 hours ago

Astronomy

1st full moon of summer to rise Thursday night

1 day ago

Weather News

Most Texas flood victims face devastation without flood insurance

18 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Health

How can families handle new anxieties around summer camp?

15 hours ago

AccuWeather Ready

Floodwater rising in your house? Do this

2 days ago

Weather News

Orcas are bringing humans gifts of food – but why?

15 hours ago

Weather News

Earthquake swarm detected at Mount Rainier, biggest since 2009

20 hours ago

Weather News

The US has a plan to breed millions of flies and drop them from planes

15 hours ago

AccuWeather Weather News AccuWeather to offer users innovative flu forecasts from University of Virginia's Biocomplexity Institute
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...