Forecast Users’ Forum takes place in Nairobi, Kenya

The African SWIFT Users’ Forum is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya this week, 30 April to 3 May 2019. Participants will join discussions and provide feedback to the teams of operational forecasters and researchers currently taking part in the SWIFT testbed.

Hosted by SWIFT partners, the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), and organised in collaboration with FoRPAC, the Users Forum’ aims to:

• Enhance engagement between weather forecast users and the providers of weather forecast information in key climate-sensitive sectors including water resources and energy, agriculture and livestock, and disaster risk management.
• Provide important feedback and user evaluation of real-time forecasts prepared by SWIFT testbed teams.
• Discuss current forecast provision and delivery and so identify areas for development. Interactive sessions between the testbed teams and the Users will evaluate forecast usefulness and propose for how weather and climate services in Kenya can be improved.
• Consider the challenges of communicating and working with forecast uncertainty.
The Users Forum forms part of the African SWIFT Work Package 1: Users, part of Strand 1: User engagement and forecast evaluation which is responsible for the interdisciplinary engagement needed to link forecast users requirements with the provision of quantitative measures of forecast accuracy