Forecasting
This is part of the
Education Section because it is vital part of weather information.
Knowing how to forecast is more than just going to school and
learning equation. It takes years of experience with a solid
foundation in the fundamentals of meteorology (equations included).
Additionally, many areas have localized climatological issues that
can make forecasting a challenge. Common forecasters are with
the National Weather Service, private weather companies, military,
and media.
Tools are the most
important part of forecasting. Tools can be the numerical
models, satellite, RADAR, surface analyses, wind profilers, and home
grown applications. How to use the forecast tool is also quite
important. The numerical models are vast and offer several
methods for forecasting. It is important to understand the
models strengths and weaknesses. With model runs four times a
day and out to 380 hours, one can spend a lot of time reviewing the
prognostics. There is a plethora of information on the
Internet from the NWS on the use of the models.
Some Reference Sites:
COD -
http://weather.cod.edu
NCEP -
http://www.ncep.noaa.gov
UCAR -
http://www.rap.ucar.edu
Unisys -
http://www.unisys.com
