Using artificial intelligence to better predict severe weather: Researchers create AI algorithm to detect cloud formations that lead to storms

Now, there is a computer model that can help forecasters recognize potential severe storms more quickly and accurately, thanks to a team of researchers at Penn State, AccuWeather, Inc., and the University of Almería in Spain. They have developed a framework based on machine learning linear classifiers -- a kind of artificial intelligence -- that detects rotational movements in clouds from satellite images that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. This AI solution ran on the Bridges supercomputer at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. Steve Wistar, senior forensic meteorologist at AccuWeather, said that having this tool to point his eye toward potentially threatening formations could help him to make a better forecast. "The very best forecasting incorporates as much data as possible," he said.