Winter season is still on

At the moment the pilot users are testing the winter six week forecasts, which help the general public to prepare for winter conditions as well as to get the best out of them. You can still sign up for piloting.

CLIPS project develops novel extended-range forecasts that estimate the weather conditions and breaks in the weather during the upcoming six weeks. Six week forecast products of the winter season include Sweather weather outlook, Outlook for driving conditions, Outlook for winter outdoor activities, Heating degree day outlook, Storm outlook and Wind outlooks. Newest member of the winter six week forecast products is an outlook of changes in the soil frost and bearing capacity. In the pilot phase, all the forecast products are unfortunately only in Finnish.

One product consists of several six week forecasts

In most cases, the products consist of several six week forecasts. For example the Outlook for winter outdoor activities involves up to six different forecasts for the upcoming weeks. These include forecasts estimating the amount of weekly days with snowfall or rain and probabilistic forecasts of the risk of frostbites and freezing temperatures.

Users can therefore choose their preferred aspect to look at the weather conditions for winter sports. Heavy snowing can bother some winter outdoor activities but is good news for those looking forward to proper cross-country skiing conditions. On the other hand, freezing temperatures (e.g. -20 degrees) are pleasant for few, but for those suffering from asthma or other respiratory conditions a risk of such weather is even more vital piece of information.

Selection of six week forecasts has upgraded throughout the winter

Winter pilot season kicked off in the beginning of December but the selection of available forecasts has been updated throughout the season. Here is a short summary of the winter pilot products available at the moment:

Sweather weather outlook

Outlook for driving conditions

• Weekly slippery days
• Weekly snowfall days

Outlook for winter outdoor activities

• Weekly snowfall days
• Weekly rainfall days
• Weekly frosty winter days (minus degrees)
• Snow depth situation (observed, not forecasted)
• Risk of frostbites (-30 ºC)
• Risk of freezing temperature (-20 ºC)

Heating degree day outlook

• Heating degree day sum
• Frost sum

Storm outlook

• Atmospheric pressure forecast (weekly means)
• Forecast of weekly maximum gusts
• Probability of near gale gusts (min. 14 m/s)
• Probability of severe gale gusts (min. 21 m/s)

Wind outlooks

• Wind roses (intensity and direction) for 14 locations on different sea, lake and coastal water areas

Outlook for soil frost and bearing capacity

• Soil frost and bearing capacity forecast
• Soil frost situation (source: SYKE)