It was Mark Twain who once said that everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. This is especially true with severe weather.
Thunderstorms strike quickly, putting pilots, boaters, travelers and floodplain residents at risk.
Heavy rains and flooding cause more damage in the U.S. than any other weather phenomenon. Witness the recent floods in North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Floyd. What it means is that forecasters can make more precise predictions on when and where severe storms will hit, and for everyone else it means an early warning system so they can get out of harm's way sooner. The RAP application works automatically, examining radar data, then adding cloud-growth information to predict the life and path of a storm over the next 30 minutes to an hour. Storm alerts then appear on a monitor in the weather station.