Weather Forecasting Contest for Oakland, CA (KOAK)

Tomorrow

Forecast at a Glance from the National Weather Service

This
Afternoon

Sunny
W 11kt
Tonight

Patchy Fog
SW 11kt
Monday

Patchy Fog
WSW 12kt
Monday
Night

Mostly Cloudy
SW 12kt
Tuesday

Mostly Sunny
W 12kt
Tuesday
Night

Clear
W 12kt
Wednesday

Sunny
W 15kt
Wednesday
Night

Mostly Clear
W 15kt
Thursday

Sunny
W 16kt

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-GFS-06-DAY2 54 65 0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY2 54 69 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY2 53 66 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY2 53 65 0
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY1 53 67 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY1 54 67 0
CLIMATOLOGY 53 72 0.01 From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY1 53 66 0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY1 52 68 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY1 53 66 0

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 Oakland, CA (KOAK) Forecast

Weather Forecasts for Sunday 20 May 2012

ForecasterTminTmaxPrecipComment
OBSERVED50700Observed data through: 12:53 PDT.
Consensus
MEDIAN5166.50
Computer
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY251650
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY251650
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY251650
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY151650
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY150690
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY052690
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY151670
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY151660
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY151660
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY251710
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY052670
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY150670
Reference
CLIMATOLOGY53720.01From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals
PERSISTENCE49690

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
OBSERVED49690Data FINAL. Scores COMPLETE.
Consensus
MEDIAN49 (0)68 (1)0 (0)1
Computer
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY250 (1)69 (0)0 (0)1
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY149 (0)68 (1)0 (0)1
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY249 (0)68 (1)0 (0)1
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY249 (0)68 (1)0 (0)1
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY149 (0)68 (1)0 (0)1
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY150 (1)68 (1)0 (0)2
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY249 (0)67 (2)0 (0)2
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY051 (2)68 (1)0 (0)3
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY149 (0)65 (4)0 (0)4
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY150 (1)66 (3)0 (0)4
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY050 (1)66 (3)0 (0)4
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY148 (1)66 (3)0 (0)4
Reference
PERSISTENCE47 (2)67 (2)0 (0)4
CLIMATOLOGY53 (4)72 (3)0.01 (2)From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals9

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

Leading Weather Forecasters for May 2012

RankForecaster# ForecastsTmin
Score
Tmax
Score
Precip
Score
Month
Score
Division
Points

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

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 Oakland, California (KOAK)

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