Southwest has installed water-vapor sensors on 87 of its 737s, and is sharing the data with the National Weather Service. "We have seen improvements in the capabilities for forecasting severe thunderstorms, and also the forecast of whether the storm is going to produce rain, snow, freezing rain, or sleet," said Carl Weiss, an aviation meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency for NWS. The aircraft collect data continuously at every altitude, from the surface to the flight levels, at locations around the country. "Now we don't have to wait for the 12-hour updates [for data collected from weather balloons], we get data almost real-time," said Rick Curtis, of Southwest.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/southwest-sensors-improve-weather-forecasts