system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is the engineering and science involved in making the weather forecasts accurately ?
gpt
Modern forecasts are generated using computer simulations. Several times a day supercomputers operated by a variety of countries will ingest data about current conditions around the world. The data comes from satellites, radars, weather balloons, ground monitoring stations, and various other sources. The supercomputers will then run models to simulate what is likely to happen several days into the future.

Different models are going to produce different results, so the job of the meteorologist is to use their training and local knowledge to consolidate the different model outputs into a single cohesive forecast. For example, a meteorologist might know that a particular model tends to overestimate rainfall in a certain area or perform worse in certain conditions, and correct the forecast accordingly.

The science and engineering that goes into improving forecasts tend to fall into one of several categories. You can try to improve the programming behind the models, which are based on our understanding of how weather systems work. You can build faster supercomputers so that you can run the models at higher resolution. And finally, you can improve the quality and quantity of data going into the models, by launching better satellites and installing more ground equipment. There are lots of people who work on all three areas.