Weather Forecasting Contest for Denver-Intl Airport, CO (KDEN)

Tomorrow

Forecast at a Glance from the National Weather Service

Late
Afternoon

Slight Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 20%
Slight Chc
Tstms
Hi 74 °F
Tonight

Slight Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 10%
Slight Chc
Tstms
Lo 50 °F
Monday

Sunny
Sunny

Hi 84 °F
Monday
Night

Mostly Clear
Mostly
Clear
Lo 52 °F
Tuesday

Breezy
Breezy

Hi 92 °F
Tuesday
Night

Breezy
Breezy

Lo 53 °F
Wednesday

Slight Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 20%
Slight Chc
Tstms
Hi 76 °F
Wednesday
Night

Chance Thunderstorms
Chance
Tstms
Lo 47 °F
Thursday

Slight Chance Thunderstorms
Slight Chc
Tstms
Hi 73 °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-00-DAY1 50 87 0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY1 49 85 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY2 49 85 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY1 48 85 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY2 48 87 0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY2 49 85 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY1 49 84 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY2 49 86 0
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY1 48 85 0
CLIMATOLOGY 45 72 0.07 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 Denver-Intl Airport, CO (KDEN) Forecast

Weather Forecasts for Sunday 20 May 2012

ForecasterTminTmaxPrecipComment
OBSERVED38730Observed data through: 14:53 MDT.
Consensus
MEDIAN4374.50
CONSENSUS-143.074.60
Computer
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY142740
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY045730
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY142730
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY243750
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY143750
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY244780
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY242750
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY144740
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY142750
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY243770
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY144740
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY044740
Reference
CLIMATOLOGY45720.07From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals
PERSISTENCE44570.19

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
OBSERVED44570.19Data FINAL. Scores COMPLETE.
Consensus
CONSENSUS-146.3 (2.3)63.5 (6.5)0.06 (3.4)12.2
MEDIAN47 (3)64 (7)0.05 (3.6)13.6
Computer
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY146 (2)62 (5)0.10 (2.3)9.3
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY243 (1)62 (5)0.05 (3.6)9.6
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY046 (2)62 (5)0.05 (3.6)10.6
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY145 (1)64 (7)0.07 (2.9)10.9
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY147 (3)63 (6)0.07 (2.9)11.9
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY147 (3)63 (6)0.05 (3.6)12.6
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY148 (4)64 (7)0.07 (2.9)13.9
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY147 (3)64 (7)0.03 (4.3)14.3
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY049 (5)65 (8)0.12 (1.6)14.6
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY247 (3)66 (9)0.05 (3.6)15.6
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY248 (4)66 (9)0.05 (3.6)16.6
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY248 (4)66 (9)0.05 (3.6)16.6
Reference
CLIMATOLOGY45 (1)71 (14)0.08 (2.8)From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals17.8
PERSISTENCE54 (10)88 (31)0 (8.4)49.4

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 Denver-Intl Airport, Colorado (KDEN)

Latest blog posts and forum topics

There are currently no posts in this category.

Syndicate content