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Article: New computer expected to make weather forecasts more accurate.
- Article from:
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Article date:
- June 6, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 South Florida Sun-Sentinal. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Ken Kaye
It's one of the most powerful computers in the world, capable of 450 billion calculations per second.
At 6,000 square feet, it's so big it dominates a room the size of basketball court. It's so high-performance it helps forecast weather for the entire United States, from snow to tropical storms.
But can the new $224 million IBM supercomputer, unveiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Maryland on Friday, tell you with any certainty whether it will rain on your house today?
Well, no.
"I wish I could say absolutely yes, we can do that," said meteorologist Jim Lushine of the National ...