Weather Forecasting Contest for Phoenix-Sky Harbor, AZ (KPHX)

Tomorrow

Forecast at a Glance from the National Weather Service

This
Afternoon

Sunny
Sunny

Hi 104 °F
Tonight

Clear
Clear

Lo 76 °F
Monday

Sunny
Sunny

Hi 108 °F
Monday
Night

Clear
Clear

Lo 77 °F
Tuesday

Sunny
Sunny

Hi 107 °F
Tuesday
Night

Mostly Clear
Mostly
Clear
Lo 77 °F
Wednesday

Sunny
Sunny

Hi 103 °F
Wednesday
Night

Breezy
Breezy

Lo 76 °F
Thursday

Breezy
Breezy

Hi 99 °F

Go to National Weather Service page
Detailed site information

Weather Forecasts for Monday 21 May 2012

Forecaster Tmin(F) Tmax(F) Precip(in) Comment
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY1 76 108 0
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY1 77 107 0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY2 76 106 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY1 78 105 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY1 78 105 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY1 76 105 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY2 77 105 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY2 78 104 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY2 78 104 0
CLIMATOLOGY 68 93 0 From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals

A Sample Forecasting Procedure


Weather forecasters look at many types of data to help them build a forecast, and each forecaster will have their own approach. Here is a simple procedure to get you started.
  1. First look at current weather conditions:

    Surface Analysis

    Visible
    Satellite

    Infrared
    Satellite

    Radar

    A good stating point for formulating your forecast will be determining what is happening around the country today. Where are the major weather systems? Where has it been hot? Where has it been raining? Is any of this weather moving towards my forecasting site over the next forecasting period?
  2. Look at the National Weather Service hourly weather forecast graph and the forecast of fronts and precipitation:

    Graph

    Fronts/Precip
    Remember that the forecast day goes from about midnight to midnight local time. We forecast for a daily High and Low. The Low is typically recorded in the early morning hours of the day, while the high is generally reached in the afternoon. But check the hourly graph for the possibility that the Low and High might come at different times. For example, if a strong cold front comes through early in the day, the High might be in the early morning hours and the temperature might fall for the rest of the day, and the Low would be at the very end of the day.
  3. Look at National Weather Service precipitation forecasts:

    Precip
    The times for these plots are in UTC (or GMT); a contest day goes from 0600 UTC (about midnight in most of the U.S.) to 0600 UTC the next day. Click on the plots corresponding to those hours. Your precip forecast is for the whole day, so you would add the amounts from each 6- or 12-hr plot to calculate what the NWS is predicting for the entire contest day. Remember that you need to predict the amount in inches, and most locations receive amounts over one inch only a few times each year. On most days the precip forecast should be zero, and for many others it will be a few hundredths of an inch (e.g. 0.15 inches).
  4. Check and submit your forecast:
    Once you have determined your high, low, and precipitation amount, check it with the computer model forecasts shown in the table above. Are you close? Generally it’s a good idea to be fairly close to these computer forecasts, because they're typically quite good. Once you've entered your forecast in the form above, click the Submit button.

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders
 M month division wins in last year
 W week division wins in last month
 D day division wins in last week
Elementary School Divisions
Middle School Divisions
High School Divisions
College Divisions
Teacher Division
Open Division
Computer Division
Consensus Division
Reference Division

Today


Click for Phoenix-Sky Harbor, AZ (KPHX) Forecast

Weather Forecasts for Sunday 20 May 2012

ForecasterTminTmaxPrecipComment
OBSERVED73970Observed data through: 12:51 MST.
Consensus
CONSENSUS-173.4101.50
MEDIAN741010
Computer
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY2721020
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY1721030
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY1731020
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY0741030
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY1741010
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY1751010
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY1731000
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY1741000
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY2741010
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY2741000
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY0751000
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY275990
Reference
CLIMATOLOGY67930.01From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders
 M month division wins in last year
 W week division wins in last month
 D day division wins in last week
Elementary School Divisions
Middle School Divisions
High School Divisions
College Divisions
Teacher Division
Open Division
Computer Division
Consensus Division
Reference Division

Yesterday

Weather Forecasts for Saturday 19 May 2012

ForecasterTmin
(score)
Tmax
(score)
Precip
(score)
CommentDay
Score
Division
Points
OBSERVED70980Data FINAL. Tmin data missing. Tmax data missing. Precip data missing. Scores will not be calculated, but forecasters will receive equal division points for participation. Scores COMPLETE.
Central New York Weather League
snowband80 M M W W D69 (0)97 (0)0 (0)fortunately dewpoint is in low 30s01
Consensus
CONSENSUS-171.3 (0)96.8 (0)0 (0)0
MEDIAN72 (0)96 (0)0 (0)0
Computer
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY171 (0)97 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY271 (0)97 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY171 (0)98 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY072 (0)98 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY172 (0)96 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY172 (0)96 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY172 (0)96 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY171 (0)96 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY272 (0)96 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY271 (0)96 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY073 (0)95 (0)0 (0)0
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY273 (0)95 (0)0 (0)0
Reference
CLIMATOLOGY67 (0)93 (0)0.01 (0)From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals0
PERSISTENCE76 (0)97 (0)0 (0)0

Daily Weather Map page

Results for Previous Days

Friday 18 May 2012
Thursday 17 May 2012
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Tuesday 15 May 2012

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders
 M month division wins in last year
 W week division wins in last month
 D day division wins in last week
Elementary School Divisions
Middle School Divisions
High School Divisions
College Divisions
Teacher Division
Open Division
Computer Division
Consensus Division
Reference Division

Standings

Leading Weather Forecasters for Week of Sun 13 May 2012 - Sat 19 May 2012

RankForecaster# ForecastsTmin
Score
Tmax
Score
Precip
Score
Week
Score
Division
Points
Central New York Weather League
1snowband80 M M W W D271082

Leading Weather Forecasters for May 2012

RankForecaster# ForecastsTmin
Score
Tmax
Score
Precip
Score
Month
Score
Division
Points
Central New York Weather League
1snowband80 M M W W D620114.335.36

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders
 M month division wins in last year
 W week division wins in last month
 D day division wins in last week
Elementary School Divisions
Middle School Divisions
High School Divisions
College Divisions
Teacher Division
Open Division
Computer Division
Consensus Division
Reference Division

Top Forecasters

Highest-Rated Forecasters, All Divisions

Higher numbers are better, minimum of 5 forecasts
RankForecaster# ForecastsForecaster Rating
1snowband80 M M W W D1282.5

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders
 M month division wins in last year
 W week division wins in last month
 D day division wins in last week
Elementary School Divisions
Middle School Divisions
High School Divisions
College Divisions
Teacher Division
Open Division
Computer Division
Consensus Division
Reference Division

Weather For Phoenix-Sky Harbor, Arizona (KPHX)

Latest blog posts and forum topics

There are currently no posts in this category.

Syndicate content