Can the weatherman prevent disease outbreaks?

Consider this. We know that mosquitoes carry disease. We know they require standing water to breed and standing water usually follows heavy rain events.

So what if we could prevent an outbreak of disease by monitoring weather. Well scientists at NASA and the Department of Agriculture are doing just that. Using satellites to monitor heavy cloud cover and surface temperatures, scientist can predict areas that will receive heavy rainfall and according to Dr. Ken Linthicum of the USDA's Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, rainfall is a key precursor to disease. For example, his fieldwork in Africa revealed that the subsequent flooding following heavy rains provided the ideal conditions for mosquitoes to lay their virus containing eggs.

Ultimately the scientists at NASA and USDA were able to use satellites to determine when the heavy rains would occur and then due to the accounting for the known gestation and life-cycle of the mosquito, they had 4 months to institute preventive measures such as vaccines and mosquito control to control the spread of disease.

I'm thrilled to know that there are some scientists out there thinking outside of the box and devising innovative ways for dealing with pressing public health issues.