nowcasting

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

Between 7th and 25th October 2021, 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 Nairobi … Continue Reading

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

Do convection-permitting ensembles lead to more skilful short-range probabilistic rainfall forecasts over tropical East Africa?

By Dr Carlo Cafaro for GCRF African SWIFT Most of the rainfall in the tropical Africa region comes from convective systems. Forecasting convection is both challenging and crucial – slight changes in surface temperatures, cloud amounts, or winds aloft can drastically affect the timing, location and intensity of the convection. Thus, convective rainfall forecasts can … Continue Reading

Intensive training equips forecasters to better predict Africa’s severe storms

By Dr Jennifer Fletcher for GCRF African SWIFT High-impact weather leads to devastating losses in tropical Africa each year. Precipitation forecasts from weather-prediction models remain very poor, and existing tools for very near-term prediction remain under-utilised. In September, African SWIFT is undertaking Testbed 3, an intensive two-week trialling of new approaches and tools to short-term, … Continue Reading