Initial Forecasting

The Initial Forecasting course conforms with the latest World Meteorological Organization (WMO) training and education guidelines.

Location: Courses are held in the excellent Met Office College facilities at our Exeter headquarters.

Course length: 16 or 18 weeks.

Aim: To equip the attendee with the skills and knowledge required to take up a post as an unsupervised forecaster.

On completion of this course you will be able to: 

• demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge of meteorological theory;
• demonstrate an acceptable level of background forecasting knowledge;
• use guidance effectively as the basis of the forecast;
• interpret actual and forecast data correctly and identify the most relevant data for any given situation;
• produce weather forecasts consistent with the guidance and other relevant data;
• present forecast products to an acceptable standard and in the style required by customers;
• monitor the latest data - amending forecasts and issuing warnings when appropriate;
• be an effective member of an operational team.

On-the-job training & assessment of competence 

The Initial Forecasting course is followed by an on-the-job training phase and assessment of competence; the trainee weather forecaster will then be qualified as an independent forecaster.

The final assessment of competence can be done in any way that the forecasting organisation in question deems suitable for their purposes. In the UK, the assessment is made against National Occupational Standards for forecasting. Help and advice on competence-based assessment of forecasters is available from the Met Office, on request.

The Met Office College provides a wide range of courses. To receive more information about training please register your details.