Forecasting Competitions at the Collegiate Level?

[Chip Redmond]

*mods, feel free to move this if its not in the best place.

A goal that I really wanted to do this year was enter my school, or at least a group of us into a national forecasting competition of some kind. It appears that my first failure was starting the search today, a single day after the deadline for what appears to be the biggest school competition (www.wxchallenge.com). That is the way things are I guess. After searching around the internets I couldn't seem to come up with any other competitions (besides tons of results for WxChallenge which made the search even more frustrating). Does anyone know of any other national competitions that haven't started yet or are still enterable for a school like us? It doesn't matter if it costs or not, we are serious forecasters and just into it for the experience and some recognition and are willing to pay entry fees.

Thanks guys!

Chip

 

[Jeff Duda]

Chip, it's unfortunate that you didn't discover WxChallenge until today. It is a great competition, and this year is the biggest draw ever: some 1500 forecasters. I would highly suggest getting your school involved next year.

Although I don't think you can join this year, one thing going on here at Iowa State is a local forecast contest run by ourselves. We use a scoring method of squaring your error in temperature or category of rain or wind. We even do forecasts for aviation events like ceiling, wind, and visibility. You could start that on your own or develop a schedule. PM me for more information.

 

[John Massura]

I've been participating for many years now, ever since the beta test, and yes, it's a lot of fun. Although I'm an alumni and not eligible for any rewards or the "tournament" it still is fun.

Even though you can't sign up for the fall semester, you should be eligible for the Spring, which usually starts late January/early February or so.

(edit) To add, there used to be the Penn State forecasting contest ages ago, I think it has essentially disbanded and any resources have gone into the WXChallenge. As far as I know, the WXChallenge is the only national contest.

 

[John Lavin]

This is my first year doing the wxchallenge and its been fun. I LOVE all the statistics it provides such as how exactly the model runs are doing and even the NWS office. We just had some of the most challenging forecasts this week for KDEN. I can't say I've done to terribly great so far, but I look to improve as the competition wears on.