#deep thunder

THE 1996 Olympics in Atlanta did not all go IBM’s way. For all its technical prowess, the computer giant managed to bungle the reporting of some competition results. On the plus side, it was at the Games that IBM first deployed Deep Thunder, a novel…

Hurricane Irene's looming threat on the weather forecast may compel you to stock up on bottled water and put up the shutters, but cities and businesses must also worry about dealing with flooded streets, emergency evacuations and power outages. Luckily, some have begun turning to an IBM supercomputer model that can help them decide on a practical response regarding anything from rainstorms to blizzards.

The "Deep Thunder" simulation not only delivers precise weather forecasts up to three days ahead of time for client cities or businesses, but also predicts possible storm damage on city or business infrastructure such as the power grid. Such information can help cities decide how many snow plows to put on the streets, or aid utility companies in sending out repair crews to fix downed power lines.

"We have to think about the business impact question," said Lloyd Treinish, chief scientist for IBM's Deep Thunder. "If all we can do is the weather, we haven't solved the problem yet even if there's value in the improved weather prediction."