Current Situation and Development of Medium-Range and Extended-Range Weather Forecast in China

Medium-range weather forecast is an important part of the weather forecast operation. Because of relatively long forecasting valid time and high reliability, medium-range forecast plays a significant role in the decision-making process of disaster prevention and reduction. This paper reviews the history of medium-range forecast in China, and emphatically introduces the current situation and the main technical means of medium-range forecast in the National Meteorological Center. Based on the comparative analysis of the differences and gaps in the medium-range weather forecast both in China and in developed countries, the development trend is discussed. A brief introduction to the extend-ranged forecast developed by the National Meteorological Center is also given in the paper, its technical means and the development trend are also discussed.