Testbed 1

GCRF African SWIFT Testbed 1 Report

Testbed 1 was conducted in the first part of 2019, from an operational forecasting office at IMTR Nairobi, at the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD). The Testbed was designed to support SWIFT’s programme of research capability-building in the science of weather prediction. New forecasting and evaluation products were tested. The outcomes of the Testbed will be … Continue Reading

Challenges and solutions to nowcasting for Africa

By Dr Alexander Roberts, National Centre for Atmospheric Research and University of Leeds A new study outlines the challenges in delivering short-term weather warnings in Africa, called nowcasting, and proposes ways solutions can be provided in the coming years. A recent GCRF African SWIFT paper published in the Royal Meteorological Society Journal Weather details approaches … Continue Reading

The storm chasers making life-saving forecasts

Weather forecasters in Africa are getting access to satellite data that will allow them to track the path and severity of developing storms – and reduce the death toll from extreme weather events. An initiative called African SWIFT has enabled meteorologists to make accurate, hour-by-hour forecasts as severe weather approaches, a technique known as ‘nowcasting’ – very-short-range … Continue Reading

Inaugural testbed guides future of nowcasting in Africa

African SWIFT’s inaugural testbed was the first event of its kind in Africa, bringing together operational forecasters and researchers to forecast African weather patterns in real time. The testbed was conducted in early 2019 from an operational forecasting office in Nairobi at the Kenya Meteorological Department. Designed to support SWIFT’s programme of research capability-building in … Continue Reading

Master of Science Students at the University of Rwanda Trained on Nowcasting Tool: NWCSAF

Between 19th August and 4th September 2019 African SWIFT Postdoc Researcher, Bethwel Kipkoech Mutai, was invited to teach the Weather Systems module, as part of the MSc. Atmospheric and Climate Science programme at the College of Science and Technology at the University of Rwanda in Kigali. Through structured regional and international collaborations, the University of … Continue Reading