AI Lost Out to Traditional Models in Forecasting NYC’s Blizzard

Two days before New York’s biggest snowstorm in a decade began, forecasters were still unsure how much snow would fall. One traditional US model had consistently predicted a major hit, while newer artificial intelligence systems weren’t so certain.

The long-running Global Forecast System, or GFS, signaled the storm would be a whopper for much of the Northeast. Because of lingering skepticism about the GFS’ past performance — and the fact that it stood alone in predicting massive impacts — many forecasters waited until Friday afternoon before declaring the possibility of more than a foot of snow for parts of New York.

The totals reported ...