The Air Force will be able to instantly forecast weather for the entire globe, rather than in just regions of the world, when The Air Force expects to have a new weather forecasting system is fully in place in this October that will allow it to have a global picture of the weather, said Ralph Stoffler, the Air Force's acting director of weather.

Right now, the Air Force has a regional weather forecasting model, and that means the Air Force can look at weather in regions of the globe but not worldwide, Stoffler told Air Force Times on Tuesday.

"If you want to have a global forecast, you have to run it multiples times over multiple parts of the globe," he said.

"The Air Force clearly has a global mission, and we need to be ready at all times, anywhere in the world," said Ralph Stoffler, the Air Force's acting director of weather, told Air Force Times on Tuesday.

With the new forecasting system, the Air Force will know what the weather is anywhere in the world at any given time, Stoffler said. The Air Force is paying $180,000 to buy the license for the software.

"We currently don't have that ability," he said. "So if the Air Force comes to me and says, 'Well, what's the weather in Afghanistan?' I have to run a window over Afghanistan. If now, they want to know what the weather is over the South Pacific, I have to run another model over the South Pacific. And so on."

Another reason why the Air Force is making the switch is that its current regional weather forecasting service has components outside of the Air Force network, Stoffler said. If the Air Force goes into a lockdown mode, it will block data from outside sources, including those components.

The system, for which the Air Force is paying $180,000 for the software license, which cost how much?mh, has its critics.The Washington Post first reported on Monday that the Air Force's decision to change its forecast system had drawn criticism from experts, such as Clifford Mass, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Mass told Air Force Times that the Air Force would be wasting money on a global weather forecasting system because the Navy and National Weather Service already predict global weather.

"We are talking about wasting Federal resources and undermining U.S. numerical weather prediction efforts," Mass said in an email Tuesday. "It is important because it further divides U.S. resources, weakening our efforts to produce the best possible global weather prediction system."

However, Stoffler said the Navy and National Weather Service forecasting systems do not meet the Air Force's needs.

"Models are tuned for specific capabilities," he said. "The Navy is obviously more focused on the ocean. They've optimized their model for ocean forecasting. As far as the National Weather Service model is concerned: We are very concerned with things like aerosols, dust, that impact engine performance. The National Weather Service does not do that."

Another reason why the Air Force is making the switch is that its current regional weather forecasting service has components outside the Air Force network, Stoffler said. If the Air Force goes into a lockdown mode, it will block data from outside sources, including those components.

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