Orlando, FLA. – It seems as though the coronavirus pandemic has affected almost every aspect of our daily lives this year.
But did you know that COVID-19 has even affected weather forecasts?According to a recent study by Dr. Ying Chen, a senior research associate at Lancaster University’s Environment Center, the large drop in airline travel has caused a significant impact on the accuracy of weather forecasts.By the end of March, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown caused the elimination of about 75-80% of aircraft observations globally, according to the World Meteorological Organization.Chen looked at this year’s forecast accuracy from March through May and compared it to the average accuracy from March to May 2017-2019.