Smarter Data Innovations from Baron Weather in the Past Year
It’s 2023. Nearly everyone has a reliable 7-day forecast in the palm of their hand nowadays.
While the credibility of weather forecasts continues to improve, so should the data and messaging behind them. That’s why Baron is committed to creating more intelligent tools for detecting, analyzing, and projecting weather hazards year after year. And the past year was certainly no exception.
Baron Becomes an Esri Partner
Many of the superior datasets from Baron that have been solving weather challenges for years are now available in the Esri Marketplace. This delivers the highest quality weather intelligence directly into the hands of decision makers and those who need it most. Our products help users interpret, analyze, and integrate weather information and are categorized into three convenient packages: Essentials, major perils, and historical.
Baron Weather Joins the Esri Partner Network – Empowering Users with Effortless Access to Weather Intelligence
Proven Road Condition Data Gets Smarter
A fresh blanket of snow may be fun to look at or play in, but it can also be a logistical nightmare for your business. Baron Weather patented technology in 2006 for XM Satellite Radios that determined road conditions based on pavement temperature. Significant upgrades were made to this data in early 2022 to provide more insight and project those conditions into the future.
An extra layer of land surface and solar radiation data make up the algorithm for calculating highway conditions, and precipitation forecasts from the exclusive Baron Model are used to pinpoint hazards up to 72 hours (about 3 days) in the future.
New Levels of Alerting Delivered
A “warning” used to be the highest form of an alert issued by the weather service. This has changed in recent years thanks to improvements in detection methods and social science research that suggests the public needs more proof of an imminent threat.
Ground truth reports or highly convincing radar data now trigger warnings with a “confirmed” message for tornadoes, destructive thunderstorm winds, and flash flooding over a heavily populated area. Baron added these alert types to its broadcast software platform and weather API in the Spring of 2022.
Baron Continues to Develop Innovative Weather Technology for all Climates
Baron Provides Earlier Notice of Flash Flooding
Flash floods are one of top weather-related killers in the world. With so many variables to consider when assessing this risk, alerting at the right time and right place hasn’t been easy. Until now. Baron scientists developed a high-resolution, Flash Flood Risk™ solution which identifies the risk up to two hours in advance. The data can be used for customized alerts in any third-party mapping platform to mitigate damage or prevent the potential loss of life.
New Technology Delivers Earlier Notice of Flash Flood Risk
Early Notice was Available for Both Flash Flood Events Last Week
Solve the Flash Flood “Over-Alerting” Problem with Clearer Insights
Our Hottest Fire Data Yet
Wildfires spread quickly and tracking their progress can be challenging, especially in remote areas. New fire hotspot and fire tracker data were added to our fire weather catalog in the early summer to complement the newest satellite data released by NOAA in recent years.
Fire hot spots can now be tracked after every satellite passage, usually up to twice per hour. The fire tracker data is used to identify how old a fire or hotspot may be, or even which direction it has progressed up to seven days in the past.
Here is an example of Baron's fire weather products being used to track the Oak Wood Fire in California in July.
Power Outage Data in Real Time
Power outage data is complex, and reports can sometimes be inconsistent. Baron launched a new product for broadcast and enterprise customers that normalizes the data into two easy-to-understand measurements: total customers and percentage of customers.
Here’s an example of the power outage data in action during Hurricane Ian over Florida in September.
New Technology Solves Growing Clutter Challenges
The expansion of 5G cellular towers and other wireless communication devices in recent years has led to an increase in radio frequency (RF) interference with weather radars. Baron has leveraged machine learning technology called ClearScan that automatically removes non-precipitation radar returns in real-time. The advanced filtering can be tailored to specific locations with unique interference challenges.
7 Frequently Asked Questions about ClearScan™
Baron Develops New Technology for Improved Weather Radar Performance
On-Demand Historical Data Now Available in Bulk
Historical weather data is not easy to find, and it’s often even more difficult to make sense of it all. Baron Weather launched a new tool called Weather Inspector in late 2022 that can deliver answers in a matter of seconds. Insurance adjusters and enterprise analysts can now accurately verify claims or assess potential risk at the neighborhood level.
Weather Inspector
Baron Goes “Down Under” with Groundbreaking Data
Weather hazards know no boundaries. Deadly floods, destructive winds and extreme heat often occur in Australia too. But quality weather data has been missing in remote areas of the land down under due to inconsistent reporting and a sparse observation network.
To solve this problem, Baron Weather launched a dataset in the Fall of 2022 to track precipitation, assess temperatures and winds, and even detect hail or flooding. Historical data is also available now in Australia to verify claims or assess risk in the effort to make better financial decisions.
Take the New Australian Weather Data for a Test Drive
Continued Success of Exclusive Modeling and Alerts
Baron Weather has been a worldwide leader in developing intelligent data for decades. And efforts are constantly being made to enhance and improve the data as our climate evolves and new technologies emerge. Several noteworthy events in 2022 can also be added to our ever-growing list of modeling and alerting verifications. Many of them are listed below:
- Hail Data Verification Study
- Hurricane Ian Model Verification
- Early Notice for Multiple Flash Floods
- Why Clarity Matters During Severe Weather
- Solve the Flash Flood Over-Alerting Problem
- High Wind Events Tracked with Precision
2022 at Baron was a year of smarter data, new integration opportunities, groundbreaking technology, and continued success for our customers and partners. We look forward to continuing to help decision-makers, government agencies, and broadcasters in 2023 with a roadmap full of software advancements, expansions to our global radar network, and proprietary data that will continue to advance the causes of public safety, loss mitigation, and quality of life.