UPS meteorologists such as Jeff Peters, above, analyze weather patterns to determine when flight and delivery plans may be affected.
Somewhere in North America tonight, an airport is going to be fogged in. And the staff meteorologists at UPS are going to figure out where, before it affects delivery schedules.
"We're looking at fog in several locations every night," says UPS senior meteorologist Randy Baker. "With most UPS aviation scheduled for the late night or early morning hours, fog affects us a lot."
The UPS team of five meteorologists based in Louisville, Ky., is also keeping an eye open for high winds, thunderstorms, snowstorms, ice, hurricanes – anything that might close an airport or delay delivery. It's not that they can't rely on National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts, says Baker; it's that UPS meteorologists are focused specifically on whether that weather will affect UPS airplanes.
"Day in and day out they do a good job," Baker says of NWS forecasts. "What gets tricky is that we have critical hours of operation at our hubs, where just one hour can make all the difference in the world. We're in tune with that timing, and they're not."
After the storm
UPS has operated its own meteorology department since 1994, when a surprise snowstorm in Kentucky halted ground and air traffic and shut down shipping operations. Now the five meteorologists work in shifts to keep close track of the weather all over the world.
"I'm basically looking out for the next one to two days, highlighting where weather could cause operational issues, so we can meet that challenge," Baker says. "That may involve rescheduling aircraft or crews, or changing the flows of the packages through our hub sorts."
For instance, if it looks like a thunderstorm is going to hit Rockford, Ill., Baker says "a decision might be made to route packages through Louisville instead of the Rockford regional sort so there's a better chance those packages will arrive on time."
Or if a typhoon threatens Taiwan, as one did this August, Baker might focus his attention on forecasts for that region and participate in several anticipatory briefings and phone conferences. (Ultimately, decision-makers shut down overnight operations at the Taipei airport.)
UPS's global outlook, in fact, offers a special perk for staff meteorologists, because they get to watch for activity all over the world. "I just love the weather, and there's always interesting weather happening somewhere," Baker says. "I could be sitting in Louisville in a heat wave and there's not much going on here, but somewhere there's weather that could have an operational impact. Being able to correctly forecast a major weather event gives me great satisfaction."
On the other hand, it's a great responsibility, too. "Weather doesn't happen just 9 to 5," says Baker.
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