Accurate weather forecasting is crucial for saving lives and safeguarding infrastructure. However, predicting the complex patterns of global weather requires extensive computing power. To address this challenge, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is taking a significant step forward by choosing Google Cloud as the main provider of high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure for its Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System (WCOSS).
With the shift to Google Cloud’s H4D virtual machines, NOAA becomes one of the pioneering major global weather centers to conduct operational numerical weather prediction via the public cloud. This transition provides meteorologists and researchers with unparalleled capabilities in terms of scale, speed, and artificial intelligence. As a result, they can run extensive simulations, enhance prediction models, and deliver quicker early warnings that are crucial for saving lives.
More details about this collaboration can be found on the Google Cloud blog.