Course Registry

The Advanced Forecasting course has been designed to complement and follow on from the Basic Instruction Package in Meteorology (BIP-M) after two to three years experience in an operational forecasting environment. It can also be used to complete basic forecaster training which has been taken elsewhere.

The course is particularly suitable for staff who may shortly be moving to a position of greater responsibility within a forecasting team as it includes a day of management skills training.

To equip a forecaster with the necessary skills to operate at an advanced level within their organisation.

After completing this course you will be able to:

• analyse the atmosphere through vorticity, ageostrophic motion and PV concepts to predict development at the surface;
• relate advanced synoptic models of cyclogenesis and convection to practical forecasting situations;
• produce forecasts in the absence of central guidance;
• apply ensemble forecasting methods to short and medium-range forecasting;
• describe the limitations of the forecasts that you produce and assess the appropriate level of confidence to communicate within those forecasts;
• evaluate the impacts of any issued forecast on the customer, especially in severe weather situations;
• plan and organise the production and prioritisation within an operational team;
• explain the drivers of climatic variability and relate these to monthly to decadal forecasting timescales.