https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51504002

In The Times as well:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/storm-dennis-met-office-to-get-1-2bn-forecasting-supercomputer-fxg8ppn6n

"

The Met Office is to be given £1.2 billion of public money to build a supercomputer that will be one of the most powerful weather forecasting machines created.

The Met Office, considered one of the finest forecasting organisations in the world, wants to build a supercomputer that can predict severe weather and the effects of climate change faster and more accurately than before.

The investment will help the UK to “continue to lead the field in weather and climate science and service”, Professor Penny Endersby, chief executive of the Met Office, said.

..."

Resolution down to 150m apparently. Those of you with a decent plot of land will be able to get more than one forecast. It may help you determine where in your garden to place the barbecue.

In The Times as well:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/storm-dennis-met-office-to-get-1-2bn-forecasting-supercomputer-fxg8ppn6n

"

The Met Office is to be given £1.2 billion of public money to build a supercomputer that will be one of the most powerful weather forecasting machines created.

The Met Office, considered one of the finest forecasting organisations in the world, wants to build a supercomputer that can predict severe weather and the effects of climate change faster and more accurately than before.

The investment will help the UK to “continue to lead the field in weather and climate science and service”, Professor Penny Endersby, chief executive of the Met Office, said.

..."

£1.2bn? It had better be worth it in the end, then.

Anything that will help improve the accuracy (or lack of) their forecasts must be welcome.

1) Can we expect 240 or even 384 hours outputs from the UKMO model?
2) Will it play Crysis?

1) Can we expect 240 or even 384 hours outputs from the UKMO model?

Given it's funded by taxpayers, will we get to see all of the output? Or will it still only let us peek at the bare minimum?

 

 

Given it's funded by taxpayers, will we get to see all of the output? Or will it still only let us peek at the bare minimum?

 

I mean, we could ask why the Met Office is so restrictive in general with the data you’re allowed to access - in the US and Canada, you can get stuff like average first frost, average first snowfall, number of thunder days, number of days above/below x for individual stations on their Met agency websites. Can’t do that on the Met Office website.

They’re really quite useless in terms of data transparency.

How long will it take to build? I assume at least 1.5-2 years when in 2022 the current Met Office super  computer is due to have lived its usefulness? 

How long will it take to build? I assume at least 1.5-2 years when in 2022 the current Met Office super  computer is due to have lived its usefulness? 

Heard in the radio this morning that they hope to have it built within the next 10 years.

Sounds about right for this country.

 

 

Heard in the radio this morning that they hope to have it built within the next 10 years.

Sounds about right for this country.

I suspect a major chunk of the time will be software development and testing.

Resolution down to 150m apparently. Those of you with a decent plot of land will be able to get more than one forecast. It may help you determine where in your garden to place the barbecue.

Absolutely. An accurate prediction of the local wind direction is vital to ensure the acrid smoke drifts reliably into your neighbour's garden

 

 

Given it's funded by taxpayers, will we get to see all of the output? Or will it still only let us peek at the bare minimum?

 

Well, about 75% of it is.

The total price for the PWS outlined in the CSA for 2014/15 is £119.7m. This is funded by £91.4m from BIS, £18.5m from aviation a £6.8m capital grant from BIS for polar satellites, with the remainder revenue from wholesaling data or international research grants.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/what/pws/value

Even if they need to hold something back for specialist business forecasts for which they cab charge a premium, yes, I think they should release more to their main supporter i.e. us.

Er ... and another thing. The thread title says a new 'PC'. Can I have an upgrade to my PC to put it on a par with what they're proposing?

 

Absolutely. An accurate prediction of the local wind direction is vital to ensure the acrid smoke drifts reliably into your neighbour's garden

 Indeed. The problem is expectations management. The higher resolution will allow people to have multiple wrong forecasts for their plot of land rather than the one they now have. The improvement in accuracy will of course only be incremental in all likelihood.