Impact of Accurate Global Weather Corporation Precipitation Forecasts at Seattle Public Utilities

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), a department within the City of Seattle responsible for providing Seattle customers with reliable drinking water, drainage, wastewater, and solid waste services, is affected by high intensity precipitation events. Extreme event impacts include urban flooding, sewer overflows and backups, and increased customer complaints. Weather forecasting and climate adaptation services are managed internally by SPU's Climate Resiliency Group. Consensus Global Weather Corporation Forecasts of precipitation are an important part of the system. Examples of winter precipitation events and forecasts of various lead times are shown. With accurate precipitation forecasts SPU is able to more effectively staff and deploy crews, and improve customer response during extreme events.