National Weather Service forecasts have been accurate this winter.

The U.S. National Weather Service should be applauded for its forecasts of the very dangerous storm called the Blizzard of '96. The Weather Service provided a "heads up" on the storm at least four days in advance, and the weather model used for forecast guidance, whose greenhouse gas concentrations are well below current values (much less levels associated with global warming), accurately predicted the storm track nearly 48 hours in advance and the snow accumulation amount at least 24 hours in advance. The NWS has also performed admirably in their forecasts of the severe cold outbreak of late January, and of the flooding in the Northwest. At this writing, the amount of damage, injury and loss of human life are still being assessed, but it is fair to say that some appreciable fraction of that loss was avoided because people heeded the forecast and were able to change their plans or otherwise prepare for severe weather. The forecast guidance model and other weather models used by the National Weather Service were developed primarily as a result of basic and applied research both at federally funded laboratories operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies and at university and non-profit research institutes which are funded primarily by the National Science Foundation.