Increased Participation of Members in World Weather Information Services (WWIS)
Short History Established by CBS-XII (2000) as a Pilot Project led by Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) To Provide a centralized source of official weather information To encourage the use of official weather information To enhance the visibility of NMHSs, especially LDCs, SIDSs
Latest Progress 136 Members supplying official forecasts for 2,663 cities 11 languages available Revamped website launched in 2014, 2017 with mobile version, smoother navigation, GIS overlaying feature, current weather, sunrise/sunset
WWIS on Smartphone (MyWorldWeather) MyWorldWeather available on iOS since late 2011 More than 180,000 copies was downloaded MyWorldWeather available on Android since early 2013 About 100,000 was downloaded
Distribution of Forecast/Climatological Information Available on WWIS
Forecast Availability WMO Members: 193 WWIS participants: 136 (57 Members not providing forecast to WWIS) Forecast range: 1 or 2-day: 5% 3-day: 27% 4-day: 9% >=5-day forecast: 59% Members not providing forecast reliably# : 45% Detailed performance on forecast submission: https://portal.worldweather.org/stats_test.php # forecast available >=25 days in a month on average in the past year
Bridging the Gap Baseline : Forecast range: >=5 days Forecast availability: >25 days in a month Number of city (town) forecast: >=10 (may be relaxed for Members with small territory)
Option in case of Not Meeting Baseline Only in the case of not meeting baseline (i.e. forecast range <5 days, forecast availability < 25 days in a month, or number of city forecast < 10): Use ECMWF forecast freely available for the Member to compile their forecast to fill the gap City forecast compiled by ECMWF data available on a password-protected website for reference by the Member Seek Member agreeing on using the ECMWF city forecast for cities of his/her country/territory before releasing on the WWIS ECMWF forecast Member agrees
Let’s work together to enhance the authoritative voice of the WMO Community