In contrast, the GFS begins with a snapshot of a single moment.

相较之下，美系统只能对某一特定时刻做云图拍照，进而分析测。

For more than two decades the Global Forecast System (GFS), the leading weather-prediction model produced in the United States, has been notably less accurate than its chief competitor, published by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

较之二者，系统所得成功虽微不足道，但美气象界仍对此大呼叫好。系统是美最为先进气模型，二十多年来，它发布气测准确性显然落后于它劲敌--欧洲中期气中心。

Its Cray XC30 supercomputer can perform up to 2 quadrillion calculations a second, about ten times more than the GFS hardware before the recent upgrade.

该气象中心拥有一台Cray XC30型超级电脑，一秒内就能运算2万亿次，其运算能力是系统硬件升级前十倍多。

The new GFS has certainly narrowed the gap.

系统升级后着实缩小了与欧洲中期气中心差距。

The GFS suggested 18cm. That turned out to be far closer to the truth.

但系统却积雪厚度为18厘米，最后事实证明后者测更为准确。

Nonetheless, the GFS's strong showing during January's nor'easter offers solace to critics who feared America would never catch up with Europe in matters meteorological.

之前批评家们担心美在气象方面永远也赶不上欧洲，但是系统在1月份对暴风雪东北锋面准确测给予了他们一些安慰。

A week before that storm's landfall in 2012, the ECMWF predicted it would veer towards the coast while the GFS showed it remaining at sea.

三年前，在飓风桑迪登陆一周前，欧洲中期气中心测飓风会径直朝沿海运动，但系统却测它会停留在海面。

A new version of the GFS went into operation on January 14th, and two weeks later it passed with flying colours.

1月14日，升级后系统投入运行，仅两个星期后它就斩获成功。