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WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEATHER PREDICTION AND
CLIMATE PREDICTION?
"Weather"
is the day-to-day variability in temperature and precipitation.
Weather applies to individual events such as snow storms, cold
air outbreaks, etc. "Weather forecasts" have skill
up to several days in advance. NOAA meteorologists quantify relevant
parameters during the forecast period (e.g., how warm, how cold,
how much rain). "Climate," on the other hand, is the
average of weather events over a month, season (or longer). "Climate
forecasts" involve the prediction of monthly or seasonal
averages. By their very nature, climate forecasts are specified
by the likelihood that temperature or precipitation will be above,
near or below-normal.
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