With sheltering in place now in full swing, the number of airline flights across the US has dropped significantly. What you might not know is that many of these flights provide important and detailed weather information that is fed into weather forecast models, improving their accuracy. With less flights in the air, that means there is a lot less data going into the forecast models, which could reduce their accuracy. To find out more, check out UGA Professor Marshall Shepherd’s explanation in Forbes.com here. There is a related story at NPR here.

Source: Anders Sandburg, Commons WIkimedia