AI Is Changing My Work as a Meteorologist–Hurricane Helene and Milton Proved There’s No Going Back
October 17, 2024

(Fast Company) – During Helene and Milton, the AI tool I used most—AI RI—was developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin. It gives updated hourly odds on the chances of a nascent hurricane going through a bout of rapid intensification. At one point, AI RI was giving a nearly 100% chance that Milton would strengthen from Category 1 to Category 5 within the next 24 hours. And of course, that prediction turned out to be correct. No Atlantic hurricane in our 175 years of record keeping strengthened faster than Milton.
Such an accurate prediction would have been unthinkable even five years ago using traditional computer weather models. (Read More)