![Forecasts increase productivity and mitigate extreme weather impacts](https://internetofwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NWS-Use-Case-Image-Art-Unsplash.jpeg)
Forecasts increase productivity and mitigate extreme weather impacts
The National Weather Service is the primary source of public weather data and forecasts used to inform decision-making and mitigate losses from extreme weather. A willingness-to-pay survey and an impact analysis suggest the potential benefit-to-cost ratio is between $3 (includes forecasts from all federal and private agencies) and $15 (assumes most of the underlying data and forecasts come from the National Weather Service) of value for every $1 spent.