Category Archives: Weather prediction

Extreme(?) rainfall in the West Highlands – a flood forecasting challenge

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Richard Maxey

Over the past few days the forecasting service has faced an interesting challenge. Large amounts of rain were forecast to fall in north west Scotland, caused by warm moist air being driven by gale force winds over the high ground … Continue reading →

Posted in Flood, Forecasting, Risk communication, Weather prediction | 2 Comments

Behind the flood guidance: a meteorologist’s perspective

Posted on March 20, 2014 by michaeldcranston

Peter Sloss, one of the Met Office forecasters involved in the flood forecasting service, provides in inside view of the developing hydrometeorological service capabilities. “Weather forecasting and more specifically rainfall forecasting was so much simpler way back then, even going … Continue reading →

Posted in Forecasting, Hydrometeorology, Weather prediction | 1 Comment

Coupling meteorological and hydrological forecasting models: the Canadian case

Posted on February 21, 2014 by michaeldcranston

In June 2013 the city of Calgary and state of Alberta witnessed devastating flooding with four fatalities and over 100,000 people evacuated from their homes. It’s difficult to comprehend flooding on this scale in Scotland but comparing this to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Flood, Forecasting, Hydrometeorology, Weather prediction | 1 Comment

Meteorological forecast data: define what’s best!

Posted on February 5, 2014 by michaeldcranston

Following earlier posts on the Heavy Rainfall Alert tool, Peter Buchanan our Met Office forecasting service co-ordinator explains ‘what is best data!’ “The Met Office has had an operational numerical modelling capability for many years now. It runs a plethora … Continue reading →

Posted in Forecasting, Probabilistic, Weather prediction | 1 Comment

Surface water flood alerting: project update

Posted on November 20, 2013 by lindaspeight

In May we started a project to develop a pilot surface water alerting tool to use during the Commonwealth Games and to help inform our future plans for surface water flood forecasting in the SFFS. The first review stage of … Continue reading →

Posted in Flood, Forecasting, G2G, Research, Surface Water, Weather prediction | 4 Comments

High Impact Weather: the role of the forecaster and verification

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Richard Maxey

Day 2 and our final contribution to this science session. The role of the forecaster dominated the morning session on applications of meteorology in warning of severe weather and other natural hazards. Automation of warnings was presented (Reichert) allowing for greater … Continue reading →

Posted in Conference, Risk communication, Weather prediction | Leave a comment

High Impact Weather: Working in Partnership

Posted on September 9, 2013 by michaeldcranston

Day 1 at the European Meteorological Society annual conference and one of the key messages from John Hirst’s opening keynote speech was for the need for clear, joined up, communication of the risk of severe weather impacts. This Reading-based EMS event … Continue reading →

Posted in Conference, Research, Risk communication, Uncategorized, Weather prediction | Leave a comment

Quick as a ‘flash’ (Part 2)

Posted on July 15, 2013 by michaeldcranston

Following the earlier article on the challenges of surface water alerting, Peter Buchanan discusses emerging science developments being used by the flood forecasting service in Scotland. “How does the Heavy Rainfall Alert tool work? In essence, it searches for instances … Continue reading →

Posted in Forecasting, Probabilistic, Weather prediction | 7 Comments

Quick as a ‘flash’ (Part 1)

Posted on July 4, 2013 by michaeldcranston

Peter Buchanan, the Met Office flood forecasting service coordinator, describes one of the key priority areas for forecasting science development. “One of the greatest challenges facing the flood forecasting community for the foreseeable future is surface water or pluvial flooding … Continue reading →

Posted in Flood, Probabilistic, Weather prediction | 4 Comments