Monthly Archives: October 2016

How can a hurricane near the USA affect the weather in Europe?

By John Methven It may seem bizarre that processes occurring within clouds near the USA, involving tiny ice crystals and water droplets, can have an influence on high-impact weather events thousands of kilometres away in Europe, and our ability to predict them … Continue reading

Posted in Environmental physics, Measurements and instrumentation, Numerical modelling, University of Reading, Weather forecasting | Leave a comment

Where is the high probability?

By Peter Jan van Leeuwen To determine the uncertainty in weather and climate forecasts an ensemble of model runs is used, see Figure 1. Each model run represents a plausible scenario of what the atmosphere or the climate system will do, … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, Numerical modelling, Weather forecasting | Tagged | Leave a comment

Producing quantitative estimates of radiative forcing

By Will Davies Last year the Paris climate conference agreed to an action plan to limit global warming to below 2 degC – preferably 1.5 degC. Various initiatives are measuring performance against this target – such as the global warming … Continue reading

Posted in Atmospheric chemistry, Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Numerical modelling, Solar radiation | Tagged | Leave a comment

El Niño in West and Central Africa

By Chimene Daleu   What is El Niño, how often does it occur, and why is everyone so concerned this year? El Niño is the warming phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During an El Niño event, the … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, ENSO, Seasonal forecasting | Leave a comment

Helping National Grid manage the sudden growth in solar power

By Daniel Drew “In Britain it had been a year without summer. Wet spring had merged imperceptibly into bleak autumn. For months the sky had remained a depthless grey. Sometimes it rained, but mostly it was just dull, a land … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, Renewable energy, Solar radiation | Leave a comment