DEFINITIONS OF METEOROLOGICAL FORECASTING RANGES

1.	Nowcasting	A description of current weather parameters and 0 to 2 hours’ description of forecasted weather parameters
2.	Very short-range weather forecasting	Up to 12 hours’ description of weather parameters
3.	Short-range weather forecasting	Beyond 12 hours’ and up to 72 hours’ description of weather parameters
4.	Medium-range weather forecasting	Beyond 72 hours’ and up to 240 hours’ description of weather parameters
5.	Extended-range weather forecasting	Beyond 10 days’ and up to 30 days’ description of weather parameters, usually averaged and expressed as a departure from climate values for that period
6.	Long-range weather forecasting 6.1 Montly outlook 6.2 Three-month or 90-day outlook 6.3 Seasonal outlook	From 30 days up to two years Description of averaged weather parameters expressed as a departure (deviation, variation, anomaly) from climate values for that month (not necessarily the coming month) Description of averaged weather parameters expressed as a departure from climate values for that 90-day period (not necessarily the coming 90-day period) Description of averaged weather parameters expressed as a departure from climate values for that season

7.

Climate forecasting 7.1 Climate variability prediction 7.2 Climate prediction

Beyond two years Description of the expected climate parameters associated with the variation of interannual, decadal and multi-decadal climate anomalies Description of expected future climate including the effects of both natural and human influences