WxChallenge Public Notices

Information on current and past public notices issued by the WxChallenge can be found on this page. These public notices contain information related to and about the current activities on the WxChallenge website and are seen in the colored boxes on some of the webpages on the site. If you are looking for current and older press releases that appear on the website, please visit the press releases webpage.

Issued: 29 April 21:15 UTC
Removed:

Important Notice The 2007-08 WxChallenge has officially concluded. The WxChallenge would like to thank everyone for their participation and congratulate all of the winners. You may view the official winners of the 2007-08 contest on the Trophy Room page. Trophies for the winners have been mailed off to the local managers. We hope that everyone had a fun and educational time this year. Everyone is invited back for the 2008-09 season in the fall and details about next year's contest will be posted late this summer.

Issued: 7 April 23:40 UTC
Removed: 9 April 16:23 UTC

Critical Notice The 2007-08 WxChallenge Tournament is now underway. Everyone is invited to play along and your scores will be calculated as normal, but the bracket will only show the results of those directly involved in the tournament. For those involved, please make sure you read over the rules as there are slight differences in forecast days.

Issued: 5 April 16:45 UTC
Removed: 8 April 19:36 UTC

Important Notice The verification numbers (in particular the wind and precipitation) for Day 8 of KMSP were verified by the National Weather Service.

Issued: 9 March 20:45 UTC
Removed: 12 March 21:37 UTC

Important Notice While you may have changed your clocks over the weekend due to Daylight Saving Time, the WxChallenge does not. Forecasts are still due at 00 UTC. Please check the UTC table to make sure you know what time this is in your area.

Issued: 4 March 04:52 UTC
Removed: 9 March 20:45 UTC

Important Notice The following rule approved by the Advisory Board will take effect immediately: "All forecasts must be entered by the registered forecaster using the WxChallenge website and may not be entered by other forecasters, proxy forecasters, or automated methods."

Issued: 19 February 01:00 UTC
Removed: 25 February 06:05 UTC

Critical Notice In the WxChallenge's continuing effort to provide the best and most fair possible forecasting experience, the Advisory Board has added the following two rules to the contest. These rules will go in effect starting with the next city (Buffalo, NY - February 25). If you have any questions about these rules, please contact your local manager. While forecast discussion amongst forecasters and/or teams is encouraged, each forecaster is responsible for making their own independent forecast. Submitting frequent identical or near-identical forecasts is considered inappropriate behavior and all forecasters involved will be subject to suspension from the contest. Any forecaster(s) who feel that observations for a particular location are incorrect or highly suspect must first consult their local manager regarding the issue. If, after 24 hours of the end of the forecast day, the local manager feels that the recorded finalized verification numbers are still incorrect or highly suspect and do not represent meteorological conditions, but a sensor error, they (local manager, not individual forecasters) may submit a request for an investigation to the Advisory Board through the WxChallenge Manager.

Issued: 19 February 00:33 UTC
Removed: 25 February 06:05 UTC

Important Notice The Advisory Board has narrowed the selection for the 10th city of the 2007-08 city down to eight. You may now cast your vote on which of the cities will be forecast. (direct link) You can only vote once and must be registered to vote. Voting will close Friday, February 22.

Issued: 12 February 20:46 UTC
Removed: 16 February 6:57 UTC

Critical Notice The WxChallenge Advisory Board has decided to move the 8th city in the 2007-08 contest from Toronto, Canada (CYYZ) to Buffalo, NY (KBUF). This small move across Lake Ontario will hopefully keep the essence of the forecasting challenges in that region, while allowing for better verification. While the Board encourages the eventual inclusion of Canadian sites, the current reporting of forecast variables at these sites is not consistent with the existing WxChallenge verification methods. The Advisory Board feels that this decision is in the best interest of the WxChallenge at this time and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Issued: 12 February 5:51 UTC
Removed: 16 February 6:12 UTC

Important Notice Discussion on the selection of the 10th city of the 2007-08 WxChallenge season is underway. Please visit the forum (direct link) to voice your suggestions and opinions on the topic. The open discussion of topics will close on Friday, February 15. Voting will begin a few days to a week later after the Advisory Board narrows the list down to eight cities.

Issued: 1 February 16:21 UTC
Removed: 4 February 15:55 UTC

Important Notice According to the NWS in Slidell, LA, the 0.02" of precipitation recorded 17Z and 18Z are false tips on the rain gauge and thus are not reported in the climatological report. The official total is 0.47". Additionally, the climatology report did not capture all of the wind observations. An employee there did a visual inspection of observations and found that the maximum sustained wind speed for the day was 25 knots. This information is for verification of Day 3.

Issued: 28 January 19:44 UTC
Removed: 31 January 22:39 UTC

Important Notice We are now forecasting for New Orleans, LA (KMSY).

Issued: 27 January 00:23 UTC
Removed: 28 January 19:44 UTC

Important Notice Sign ups for the Spring semester are now closed. We will begin forecasting for New Orleans, LA on Monday.

Issued: 20 January 21:19 UTC
Removed: 27 January 00:23 UTC

Important Notice Sign ups for the Spring semester are underway. Please contact your local manager for more information. Deadline for signing up for the Spring is this weekend. (Note: If you signed up for a full year, you do not need to do anything before the start of forecasting for New Orleans, LA.)

Issued: 3 December 17:35 UTC
Removed: 7 December 15:50 UTC

Important Notice The NWS has informed the WxChallenge that the heater for the rain gauge has been fixed. However, since there are many people that have already entered forecasts for the remainder of the period (with many not entering precipitation), the advisory board has decided that it is in the best interest of all of the participants that the verification for the precipitation remain removed from KEAT.

Issued: 29 November 2007 23:11 UTC
Removed: 3 December 17:35 UTC

Critical Notice After discussion with the NWS and discussions amongst the Advisory Board, the following actions will be taken: The high temperature for Day 2 will be reverted back to 38 F. There was sufficient evidence to not deem the observation to be "bad". All precipitation forecasts from Day 1 until further notice will be removed from the record. Everyone will receive a forecasted precipitation of 0.00" and the verification will be set to 0.00" (This might not happen until the weekend, so please be a little patient.) We apologize for the unforeseen circumstances at Wenatchee, WA. We are doing our best to rectify the situation.

Issued: 28 November 2007 17:50 UTC
Removed: 29 November 2007 23:11 UTC

Important Notice The heater for the ASOS rain gauge did not activate during the precipitation from just before and during the beginning of Day 1. The NWS was notified and they sent a technician out to fix the heater. Later in the day, the snow melted due to the above freezing temperatures. However, this melted snow was from accumulations during and outside of the verification period. As a result, there is no absolute proof of the precipitable water from just Day 1. The advisory board discussed the issue and after careful scientific consideration determined a reasonable estimate for the verification for Day 1 (0.01").

Issued: 26 November 2007 18:37 UTC
Removed: 28 November 2007 17:50 UTC

Important Notice We are currently forecasting for Wenatchee, WA. Please remember that precipitation forecasts are for liquid equivalent precipitation (not snow depth). Verification for precipitation will still come from the METARs as always.

Issued: 17 November 2007 17:30 UTC
Removed: 26 November 2007 18:37 UTC

Important Notice There will be no forecasts entered the week of the Thanksgiving holidays. Forecasting will resume on Nov. 26. The WxChallenge wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Issued: 14 November 2007 20:02 UTC
Removed: 17 November 2007 17:30 UTC

Important Notice The University of Oklahoma will be doing campus-wide maintenance on the internet lines to improve stability on Friday, November 16, 2007 from 0400 - 0500 UTC. (In essence, late Thursday night). Connection to the WxChallenge website may be down during part of this window. Please take this into consideration if you typically enter forecasts at this time.

Issued: 4 November 2007 4:23 UTC
Removed: 9 November 2007 20:42 UTC

Important Notice While you may have changed your clocks over the weekend due to Daylight Saving Time, the WxChallenge does not. Forecasts are still due at 00 UTC. Please check the UTC table to make sure you know what time this is in your area.

Issued: 26 October 2007 16:28 UTC
Removed: 4 November 2007 4:23 UTC

Important Notice One more reminder. Please wait 24 hours before contacting the WxChallenge Manager about verification issues. Occasionally, bad observations, rogue precipitation readings in METARs, or corrupt METARs get into the verification. I will see them and I will correct them. There is no need to panic and sending emails immediately following a bad observation only slows the process down. Rest assured that everything will be worked out. In the mean time, you may use the Hypothetical Verification tool to view "corrected" scores.

Issued: 17 October 2007
Removed: 22 October 2007 13:19 UTC

Important Notice The Day 3 low for Great Falls, MT was changed back to 42°F. After careful investigation by the advisory board, it was determined that the low temperature listed in the climatological report was for 0658Z and thus for Day 4. Climatological reports use local standard time, not daylight savings time, thus the confusion. Additionally, the advisory board has ruled to make a slight amendment to the rules with regards to the use of the climatological report for temperature verification. This rule change will go into effect starting with the next city. The amended rule reads: "Official temperature and precipitation verifications are taken from METAR observations (A spike in temperature between hourly observations is the correct high temperature for that time interval.) The climatological report will only be used as a backup if the METAR fails for temperature or precipitation reporting."

Issued: 24 September 2007 18:00 UTC
Removed: 1 October 2007 20:40 UTC

Important Notice Here are a few noteworthy items that have been needed in the past. Please remember: Forecasts are processed promptly at 00 UTC. Forecasts entered after that time will be put toward the next day's forecast. Please wait 24 hours before submitting missing or incorrect forecast numbers. (I will catch most of them in that time.) All forecasts can be fixed, if warranted. Do not freak out. After waiting 24 hours, all forecast change requests must be submitted through your local manager. I will not handle any directly. From time to time, bad observations get in the data stream. I will see them. I will fix them.

Issued: 13 August 2007 16:24 UTC
Removed:

Critical Notice The 2007-08 WxChallenge schedule and contest changes have been released. Please read all of the changes that have occurred regarding the upcoming contest. The signup deadline will be in September 14th, 2007. Local managers may begin to collect registrations. The new local manager online registration site will be online shortly.