Tomorrow

Forecast at a Glance from the National Weather Service

Tonight Mostly Clear Lo 22 °F

Wednesday Sunny Hi 47 °F

Wednesday Night Chance Showers Lo 32 °F

Thursday Chance Showers Hi 53 °F

Thursday Night Chance Showers Lo 38 °F

Friday Showers Likely Hi 49 °F

Friday Night Showers Likely Lo 41 °F

Saturday Rain Likely Hi 50 °F

Saturday Night Rain Likely Lo 39 °F

Go to National Weather Service page
Detailed site information

Weather Forecasts for Tomorrow, Wednesday 10 March 2010

Forecaster	Tmin(F)	Tmax(F)	Precip(in)	Comment
Highest-Rated Forecasters From All Divisions
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY2	21	46	0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY2	15	44	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY2	21	46	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY2	23	48	0
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY1	19	43	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY1	21	47	0
CLIMATOLOGY	17	39	0.08	From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY1	22	46	0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY1	20	45	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY1	22	47	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY1	27	47	0

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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

month division wins in last year
week division wins in last month
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

Weather Forecasts for Today, Tuesday 9 March 2010

Forecaster	Tmin(F)	Tmax(F)	Precip(in)	Comment
OBSERVED	21	48	0	Observed data through: 19:56 EST.
Highest-Rated Forecasters From All Divisions
MEDIAN	24.5	40	0
CONSENSUS-1	24.5	40	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY2	21	39	0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY2	20	33	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY2	24	40	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY2	26	40	0
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY1	22	36	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY1	25	41	0
CLIMATOLOGY	17	39	0.07	From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY1	27	41	0
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY1	20	35	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY1	26	41	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY1	26	41	0
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY0	24	41	0
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY0	26	40	0
PERSISTENCE	25	43	0

View All Weather Forecasts For This Day By Division

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders

month division wins in last year
week division wins in last month
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 Yesterday, Monday 8 March 2010

Forecaster	Tmin (score)	Tmax (score)	Precip (score)	Comment	Day Score	Division Points
OBSERVED	25	43	0	FINAL.
Best Forecasts From All Divisions
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY2	26 (1)	42 (1)	0 (0)		2	12
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY2	27 (2)	42 (1)	0 (0)		3	11
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY2	27 (2)	41 (2)	0 (0)		4	9
NWS-MOS-GFS-12-DAY1	28 (3)	42 (1)	0 (0)		4	9
NWS-MOS-GFS-18-DAY1	29 (4)	43 (0)	0 (0)		4	9
MEDIAN	27.5 (2.5)	41 (2)	0 (0)		4.5
CONSENSUS-1	27.5 (2.5)	41 (2)	0 (0)		4.5
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY1	28 (3)	41 (2)	0 (0)		5	6.5
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY0	28 (3)	41 (2)	0 (0)		5	6.5
NWS-MOS-GFS-06-DAY1	29 (4)	41 (2)	0 (0)		6	5
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY1	24 (1)	37 (6)	0 (0)		7	4
NWS-MOS-GFS-00-DAY0	32 (7)	42 (1)	0 (0)		8	3
NWS-MOS-NAM-12-DAY2	26 (1)	35 (8)	0 (0)		9	1.5
NWS-MOS-NAM-00-DAY1	23 (2)	36 (7)	0 (0)		9	1.5
PERSISTENCE	31 (6)	40 (3)	0 (0)		9
CLIMATOLOGY	17 (8)	38 (5)	0.07 (5.3)	From 1971-2000 U.S. Climate Normals	18.3

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Daily Weather Map page

Results for Previous Days

Sunday 7 March 2010
Saturday 6 March 2010
Friday 5 March 2010
Thursday 4 March 2010

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders

month division wins in last year
week division wins in last month
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 28 Feb 2010 - Sat 6 Mar 2010

Rank

Forecaster

# Forecasts

Tmin Score

Tmax Score

Precip Score

Week Score

Division Points

View All Forecasters For This Week By Division

Leading Weather Forecasters for March 2010

Rank

Forecaster

# Forecasts

Tmin Score

Tmax Score

Precip Score

Month Score

Division Points

View All Forecasters For This Month By Division

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders

month division wins in last year
week division wins in last month
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 Weather Forecasters, All Divisions

Higher numbers are better, minimum of 5 forecasts

Rank	Forecaster	# Forecasts	Forecaster Rating
1	MEDIAN	25	111.0
2	CONSENSUS-1	25	111.0

Legend

This Month's Division Leaders

month division wins in last year
week division wins in last month
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