High Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction over Africa for Operational Use

As part of the UK commitment to the WMO, the Met Office provides support to developing countries through the UK contribution to the WMO Voluntary Cooperation Programme (VCP), funded through the Public Weather Service. One aspect of this support is to provide model information for forecasters across the African continent. The Met Office runs a 4.4km regional version of its Unified Model over East Africa to support forecasting activities of the Severe Weather Forecasting Demonstration Project (SWFDP). The forecasters are able to access Unified Model global model images as well as the 4.4km model data, both through the EUMETCAST system and a password protected Met Office website.

In summer 2017, the Met Office started running a real-time 4.4km Unified Model across the whole of West and East Africa called the ‘Tropical Africa’ model. The model runs twice a day out to T+120. Initial model evaluation has shown improved diurnal cycle of storm systems, more realistic mesoscale convective systems and better representation of African Easterly Waves (AEWs).

In this poster we will discuss the history and aims of our model provision to Africa as well as the current operational model over East Africa and the Tropical Africa model, linking through with WMO WISER-HIGHWAY and GCRF African-SWIFT science projects that are ongoing in the region.