Chapter 14 - Weather Forecasting

Weather Forecasting - Introduction

• Weather affects nearly everyone nearly every day
• Weather forecasts are issued:
– to save lives
– reduce property damage
– reduce crop damage
– to let the general public know what to expect
• Forecasts are often utilized to make many
important decisions on a daily basis
• So, how is it done, and how is it done correctly?

1
 National Weather Service Mission
• The National Weather Service (NWS)
provides weather, hydrologic, and climate
forecasts and warnings for the United
States, its territories, adjacent waters, and
ocean areas for the protection of life and
property and the enhancement of the
national economy. NWS data and products
form a national information data base and
infrastructure which can be used by other
governmental agencies, the private sector,
the public, and the global community.

http://www.ncep.noaa.gov/

2
 Forecasting Tools
• Weather Observations:
– Surface data:
– Soundings
– Ship and buoy data
– Satellite data
– Radar data
– Commercial aircraft data (ACARS)
– Wind profilers
• Weather Analysis: from observations to weather
patterns
• Numerical weather predication – using current
and past observations to predicate weather in near
future

Atmospheric Model
• Mathematical model– equations describe how atmospheric
temperature, pressure, wind, and moisture change with
time.
• The models are programmed into the computer.
• Prognostic Chart (prog): the final forecast chart
representing the atmosphere at a specified future time.

The MRF model The ETA model

3
A forecaster uses the progs as a guide to predicting the weather.
A good forecaster needs to know model limitations:
A personalized practical interpretation of model outputs
Local geographic features

Forecasting Tool
• AWIPS: Advanced Weather Interactive
Processing System
– Data communications, storage, processing, and
display

The AWIPS computer workstation provides various weather maps

and overlays on different screens.

4
Doppler radar data from
Melbourne, Florida, during the
time of a severe hailstorm in the
Orlando area. In the table near
the top of the display, the hail
algorithm determined that there
was 100 percent probability that
the storm was producing hail and
severe hail. The algorithm also
estimated the maximum size of
the hailstones to be greater than
3 inches. A forecaster can project
the movement of the storm and
adequately warn those areas in
the immediate path of severe
weather.

• The Meteogram is a chart that show how one or more

weather variables has changed at a station over a
given period of time.

5
 Vertical Profiles of temperature, wind, and RH

Other Forecasting Techniques

1. Persistence
• There are a variety of forecasting
techniques
• The easiest one is called persistence -
Tomorrows weather is same as todays
weather
– most accurate for time scales of minutes -
hours
– not so accurate on time scale of a day or
longer

6
 2. The Trend Technique
• If a phenomenon is in steady state, or is moving
at constant speed, the trend technique can be
used.
• rate x time = distance
• so if distance traverse by cold front is known
over a given time period, its position can be
extrapolated in time.

• More accurate on
shorter time scales
(minutes to hours)
• A short term forecast
is called a "nowcast"

3. The Analogue Technique

• Identify existing features on a weather chart that

resemble those that occurred in the past
• Use previous weather events to guide forecast
• "pattern recognition"
• useful method for longer-term forecasts (3 days -
months)
• NWS issues:
– 6-10 day extended forecasts
– 30 day outlooks

7
 Why Forecasts go awry and steps
to improve them
• Model limitations:
– Models represent a "simplified" atmosphere - not every real
process in atmosphere can be resolved in the models
– The model equations compute quantities at grid points.
Currently, grid spacing ranges from 30-50 km apart. Any
phenomena smaller in size that grid spacing will not be resolved
in models (e.g., thunderstorm)
– models can not resolve boundary layer very well.
• Boundary condition errors
– Many are not global in coverage
• Initial condition errors
– Initial atmospheric state is not well-known - want a dense, global
network of observations
– Have many data-parse regions, particularly over the oceans.
– The data may also have errors in it.

Why Forecasts go awry and steps

to improve them
• Local impacts-not represent in model
– small-scale terrain features will not be handled
properly
• The chaotic nature of atmosphere
– small differences in the model initial conditions can
produce radically different results later in time
• Each model can produce different predictions....
which do you believe?

• Solution:
– Improve models and observations
– Ensemble forecasting

8
Ensemble 500-mb
forecast chart for July 21,
2005 (48 hours into the
future). The chart is
constructed by running
the model 15 different
times, each time
beginning with a slightly
different initial condition.
The blue lines represent
the 5790-meter contour
line; the red lines, the
5940-meter contour line;
and the green line, the
500-mb 25-year average,
called climatology.
http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/map/images/ens/ens.html#us
http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/map/images/ens/ens_desc.html

Statistical
Forecast

9
Probability of a “White Christmas”—one inch or more of
snow on the ground—based on a 30-year average. The
probabilities do not include the mountainous areas in the
western United States. (NOAA)

Predicting the weather by weather types

10
 Climatological Forecast
• A forecast that is based on "climatology" or
average weather
• Example:
– Lets say the climatological records show that it rains
only 1 day out of 100 during the summer months in
LA.
– Then, if you forecast "no rain" for any day in July and
August, the probability you will be wrong is 1/100.
– Therefore, the probability you will be right is about
99%
• NOTE: precip forecasts are usually given as
probabilities
– ex: "there is a 60% chance of rain today"
• This means that there is a 60% chance of
measurable precip at any random place in the
forecast area

Accuracy and skill in forecasting

• What is an accurate forecast?
– your forecast for tonights min temp is 0°F
– if the actual min was 1°F, is in inaccurate?
– if the actual min was 10°F, is in inaccurate?
– Accuracy (in forecasting) is arbitrary and relative - it's
not clearly, objectively defined
• How does a forecast show skill?
– must be more accurate than utilizing persistence or
climatology
– persistence is "hard to beat" on a time frame of
minutes to hours
– skill is often shown on time frame of hours to a few
days
– Beyond 10 days, forecasts are generally no better
than those generated by climatology

11
 Types of Forecasts
• A very short-range forecast: up to few hours
• A short-range forecast: six hours to a few days
• A medium-range forecast: from 3 to 8.5 days into
the future.
• A long-range forecast: beyond about 8.5 days.

Forecasting from local signs and

common sense
• You can forecast very short-range weather
with local signs and common sense
– Air masses– different features
– Frontal systems: clouds, high pressure and low
pressure system changes
• You need to learn some basics to local signs
with atmospheric processes
– This class is building this for you

12
 A halo around the sun (or moon) means that
rain is on the way. A weather forecast made by
simply observing the sky.

13
The instant weather Forecast chart

14
 Table E-1b, p. A-12

Forecasting temperature advection by

watching clouds
• Winds that back with height (change
counterclockwise) indicate cold advection
• Winds that veer with height (change
clockwise) indicate warm advection.

15
 Clouds, winds, and
advection associated
with a cold and a
warm front.

Weather Forecasting Using Surface Chart

• Given that we know the weather associated with common
features on a surface weather chart, for example:
– cold front - narrow band of showers
– NE of warm front - light/moderate wide spread precip.
– warm sector - hot, humid
– etc.
• if we can predict the movement of these feature based on its
previous motion, we can then make a forecast with this
information.

16
Determining the Movement of Weather Systems
1. For short-time intervals, storms and fronts tend to move in
the same direction and at approximately the same speed as
they did during the previous six hours.
2. Low pressure areas tend to move in a direction that
parallels the isobars in the warm air ahead of the cold front.
3. Lows tend to move toward the region of greatest pressure
drop, while highs tend to move toward the region of greatest
rise.
4. Surface pressure system tend to move in the same direction
as the wind at 5500 m (18,000 ft)– the 500-mb level. The
speed at which surface systems move is about half the
speed of the winds at this level.

Forecasting weather system

movement with pressure tendency
• Pressure tendency - The rate at which pressure
is changing for a given period of time. (mb/hr)
• Lines of constant pressure change are called
isallobars.
• Lows will tend to
move to region of
largest negative
pressure tendencies
• Highs will tend to
move to region of
largest positive
pressure tendencies

17
 A 500-mb chart for 6:00 A.M. Tuesday, showing wind flow. The
light red L represents the position of the surface low. The winds
aloft tend to steer surface pressure systems along and,
therefore, indicate that the surface low should move
northeastward at about half the speed of the winds at this level,
or 25 knots.

A Forecast for Six

Cities
Projected 12- and 24-hour
movement of fronts, pressure
systems, and precipitation (shaded
green area) from 6:00 A.M. Tuesday
until 6:00 A.M. Wednesday.

Surface weather map

for 6:00 A.M.
Wednesday.

18
 A Meteorologist makes a Prediction

Omega high– blocking high

No weather front approach from west
High wind, warm and cold advection
Weak low pressure center is developed !!
Baroclinic instability do exist !
Favorable conditions for the surface low
develop into a major storm
Observations ??
4:00 P.M. Sunday, March 25.

Computer Model
outputs
500 mb
4:00AM
Monday

The forecaster 4:00PM

has more Monday
confidence in
Model A and C.

4:00AM
Tuesady

19
 Forecast
• Increasing cloudiness Sunday night with
rain beginning Monday morning. Periods
of Rain likely through Tuesday Morning.

Low pressure center get lower Upper trough deepen

Observations
4:00 A.M. (PST) Monday, March 26.

20
 Satellite– allow you to see weather moving

6:45 A.M. (PST) Monday, March 26 9:00 A.M. (PST) Tuesday, March 27

Surface weather map for 4:00 P.M. (PST) Monday, March 26.

21