NOAA has selected Tomorrow.io to support the Earth Prediction Innovation Center, the programme that underpins development of the agency’s Unified Forecast System. The contract covers software infrastructure, engineering and user support rather than replacing NOAA’s forecasting role.
UFS is designed as one flexible community framework for atmosphere, ocean and land modelling, replacing a collection of standalone operational models. EPIC provides the collaboration and technical environment needed to move research from public, academic and private contributors into operations.
Tomorrow.io will also work with the community on high-performance-computing initiatives. For broadcasters, a more coherent modelling pipeline can affect the timeliness and consistency of the data feeding weather graphics, severe-weather coverage and public warning workflows.
The announcement does not provide deployment milestones, forecast-skill targets or a transition schedule for individual models. Newsrooms should continue to treat official operational feeds and alerting authorities as the source of record while monitoring how UFS changes propagate into vendor products.
