Introduction: To What Extent Can Man Predict Nature?

This week, I have been working on my Senior Project, which explores the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Weather Forecasting. I was drawn to this project because I have always been fascinated with meteorology and how it saves lives. Being someone prone to worry, even more so in my younger years, meant that I often stayed up worrying about tornadoes. I remember my absolute horror reading a children’s book set in the 80s describing a typical encounter with a tornado when it was explained that the warning time for the tornado was THREE MINUTES. Immediately after, I remember the wave of relief upon learning that in the modern day (2015 at the time) the warning time was 15 minutes. It still wasn’t much, but according to my calculations as a 7 year old, it was enough time to run to the basement with cherished belongings and people. Earlier warnings have been made possible bythe advances of our understanding of meteorology and meteorological technology. They promise to become even better with more advances in technology, such as the introduction of AI to forecasting. That is what my project is about.

A map of deadly tornadoes in the state of Virginia from 1950 – 2025, The NewsLeader

I hope that through my research into AI and weather forecasting, I can better understand the emerging technology of meteorology predictions and forecasting. I hope that I can give myself some assurance that we will have even warning before the very land we live on spontaneously crumbles or gets buried under floodwaters. I hopeemerging technology will help us understand the natural world better to make a safer world for the next generations.

The last deadly tornado in Northern Virginia, the region I spent 96.2% of my life in, was in 1979, 29 years before I was born. In the last decade, there have been 5fatalities from tornadoes from 2 deadly tornadoes in the State of Virginia (The NewsLeader). I hope that eventually, there will be zero fatalities for tornadoes, and that what began as a general anxiety about the unpredictability of the natural world can evolve into an informed opinion on technology and weather.

(Evolution Of A Tornado)

Bibliography:

“A History of Twisters: Tornadoes in Virginia Since 1950.” Virginia Tornado Archive, Data Central, The NewsLeader, https://data.newsleader.com/tornado-archive/virginia/deadliest/

“Evolution of a Tornado.” Wikimedia Commons, uploaded by User:DBasner, 11 Nov. 2007, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Evolution_of_a

_Tornado.jpg. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.

“Five Ways NOAA Scientists Helped Improve Human and Marine Life in 2025.” NOAA Research, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 25 Feb. 2026, https://research.noaa.gov/five-ways-noaa-scientists-helped-improve-huma n-and-marine-life-in-2025/

. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.