The Western States Water Council (WSWC) believes that the current accuracy of forecasts (generally referred to as forecast skill) for the sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) time frame is not adequate to support water management decision-making. S2S forecasts include environmental predictions with forecast ranges from 2 weeks to 12 months.
The WSWC has asked that the federal government prioritize additional resources to move forward with more research, observations, and operational weather modeling to provide the necessary support for near-term improvement in S2S precipitation forecasting for water management. The WSWC, the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR), and NOAA have cosponsored a series of workshops to explore this issue and possible pathways toward improvement in S2S precipitation forecasting. On June 28th, WestFAST will be briefed on the results of these workshops and on progress on plans to support improved forecasting. WestFAST will review and discuss the potential benefits of efforts to improve S2S forecasting to their water resource and missions and programs.
Click here to view a fact sheet on this effort.
View NOAA presentation slides here.
View CDWR presentation slides here.
