On the Prediction of Forecast Skill

Abstract Using 10-day forecast 500 mb height data from the last 7 yr, the potential to predict the skill of numerical weather forecasts is discussed. Four possible predictor sets are described. The first, giving the consistency between adjacent forecasts, is apparently more skillful if the anomaly correlation coefficient, rather than RMS difference, is used as measure of forecast spread and forecast skill. It is concluded that much of this enhanced skill results from the dependence of the anomaly correlation coefficient on the magnitude of the forecast anomaly. It is noted that the spread between “today's” and “yesterday's” forecast is a more reliable estimate of the skill of yesterday's forecast than today's, and the implications of this on lagged-average ensemble forecasts are discussed. The impact of temporal filtering of the data in spread/skill correlations are also described. The second predictor set is derived from a regression analysis between RMS error skill scores and EOF coefficients of the for...