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The y2k storm has an early warning system. Storms after December 31, 1999, won't.
This is from FEDERAL COMPUTER WEEK (March 4).
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The National Weather Service's Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System may cost millions more than what was anticipated a couple years ago, according to a report that was discussed at a House hearing today.
AWIPS, which will for the first time integrate satellite, radar and sensor data on one workstation, will cost between $590 million and $647 million, depending on whether the department runs into any further problems with development, according to a Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc. report that was discussed at the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
AWIPS, which is the cornerstone of the NWS' $4.5 billion modernization program, was estimated to cost $350 million in 1985. The program currently is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
The General Accounting Office, Congress and the Commerce Department's own inspector general has criticized the AWIPS program for being over budget and behind schedule. About two years ago, Congress placed a $550 million funding cap on the program in an effort to contain costs. . . .
Meanwhile, Joel Willemssen, director of civilian agencies information systems at GAO's Accounting and Information Management Division, testified that AWIPS is not Year 2000-compliant. "[Software] build 4.2 -- set for completion a year from now -- is supposed to make all AWIPS applications Year 2000-compliant," Willemssen said. "But several questions remain [and] perhaps the most obvious is: What if it does not?"
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