Micro Forecasting Taps Into The Weather Internet of Things

摘要

An advanced weather service recently taken up by airlines and other industries that need hyper-accurate forecasting is making inroads into construction, and early-adopting roofing companies already are beginning to rely on its granular forecasts and alerts. ClimaCell, based in Boston, provides reports and text alerts that Brent Robinson, production manager at West Coast Roofing, Tualatin, Ore., uses to learn if rain is coming to a jobsite at a particular address, but not to another site a short distance away. Robinson says, in the Pacific Northwest, that information is "invaluable." He says a roofing job can mean $120,000 to the company, and missing an opportunity to work because of a faulty forecast is costly. "If we don't get out on that job, the labor loss is going to cost us thousands [of dollars]. If we did go out there [and it rains] and we weren't prepared, the cost would be exponential," Robinson says.