Why the Weather Research and
Private Sector Weather Communities Need to Work Together

Jim Block
DTN Weather Services

All too often over the past few years members of the professional weather community, which includes research, government, and the private sector, have worked at cross-purposes. All have viewed the weather universe to be comprised exclusively of these three parts. Each has viewed the other with suspicion, confident that they could ignore the needs and desires of the other members of the community and focus on their own interests. This is a view of the world as a zero sum contest, where for someone to win (funding, support, business), someone else has to lose.

The reality is that the weather community is a very small player in a very large economy. We in the community recognize the very important role weather plays in many economic and societal decisions, but only a few (albeit a growing number) of people outside of our community do. The weather community needs to focus its efforts on communicating the vital and substantial role weather plays in all sectors of the economy and society. If we are able to increase our community's visibility so that others can discover its importance, then all will benefit.

The Commercial Weather Services Association (CWSA) has come to this conclusion. After years of complaining about, and fighting against encroachment from government and academia, last year the CWSA Board of Directors took a long hard look at how successful we had been. The conclusion was "not very." Most of our effort was consumed educating policymakers and others about who we were and how the weather community works, not about our narrower interests.

While there always will be conflicts over roles, CWSA has decided that we need to spend as much effort working with other entities in the community as we do working for our own goals. Furthermore, we recognize that we are dependent on the other parts of the community, and that when they succeed, we benefit as well. Part of our effort has to involve raising the public level of awareness of the capabilities of the weather community.

This recognition that there are broader goals is prevalent in other parts of the community as well. Both government and private sector representatives were invited to a United States Weather Research Program (USWRP) program in December in Palm Springs, CA. The theme that emerged from this conference was that we all need to work together to communicate the capabilities and possibilities that better weather information can provide to the public and the economy as a whole.

There was one eye-opening example of the potential impact on the economy presented at the USWRP meeting. Representatives from several energy trading companies reported that over $3 billion in weather derivatives were traded in 2000. This is an industry that did not exist five years ago. This kind of money will get the attention of policymakers and others in a hurry. But what will they hear? Will they only hear about the shortcomings of one research program versus another, or about the role of the National Weather Service vis-à-vis the private sector, or will they hear about the terrific improvement in short-term forecasting that has taken place in the past decade and be offered that as an example of what could happen?

Each player in the weather community, public or private, academic or operational, needs to recognize that our biggest challenge is not scientific but perceptual. If we as a community can articulate the value weather knowledge and information brings to society, then the stature and visibility (and funding) of the entire weather community will increase substantially. No individual player or element can accomplish this alone. It can only happen if we all work together.

— Jim Block
Certified Consulting Meteorologist
DTN Weather Services
www.wx.com

Comments? thunder@ucar.edu

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