Weather Service, Navy team up for forecasts

A fire in the National Weather Service's main supercomputer in late September left the agency's weather forecasting system inoperable. But there was no interruption in national forecasts, because the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) in Monterey, Calif., quickly picked up the forecasting burden.

This cross-agency cooperation was the result of a plan put in place two years ago requiring the two agencies to support each other in cases of emergency.

"We know if we had the same problem they'd help us out," said Paul Moersdorf, scientific and technical director at the FNMOC.

The September fire wasn't the first time the FNMOC came to the NWS's rescue. Intermittent computer outages in August and September-the thick of hurricane season-forced the FNMOC to take over hurricane forecasting in those months.

This means it has actually been the FNMOC who has given the National Hurricane Center in Miami forecasting data for hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, Gert and now Lenny.

"We went from being an on-deck hitter to being at the plate," said Capt. Joseph Swaykos, commanding officer of the FNMOC.

When the NWS decided it needed the FNMOC to take over forecasting for the nation, the center placed a button on its Web site within three hours enabling all National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast offices to download FNMOC weather data.

While no stranger to forecasting, the FNMOC rarely focuses on the weather of the continental United States. "We don't want to compete with the National Weather Service," said Moersdorf. The FNMOC supports military operations all over the world, providing data on everything from cyclones and typhoons in the Pacific Ocean to weather forecasts for U.S. forces in Kososvo.

Currently, for example, the FNMOC is providing specialized weather data on surface pressure, winds and wave heights to the crew of the USS Grapple, a Navy salvage ship engaged in the search for wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 990, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just over two weeks ago.

Both the NWS and the FNMOC are upgrading their supercomputers. Because the Weather Service had already purchased a new supercomputer before the September fire, officials at the FNMOC expect the Weather Service to resume national forecasting in mid-January.