To find out more about how meteorologists use
forecasting models to get ahead of Mother Nature as well as the limitations of this technology, Scientific American spoke with Thomas Else, chief meteorologist and director of
meteorological services and computer programming for Hackettstown, N.J. - based
weather forecasting consulting firm
Weather Works LLC.
ERA - Interim combines information from
meteorological observations with background information from a
forecast model, using the data assimilation approach developed for numerical
weather prediction.