{"id":200,"date":"2016-02-15T19:23:14","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T00:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weather.umd.edu\/?page_id=200"},"modified":"2023-09-20T23:30:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T03:30:52","slug":"forecaster-instructions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/weather.umd.edu\/wordpress\/forecaster-instructions\/","title":{"rendered":"Forecaster Instructions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The main responsibilities for UMD weather writers:<\/strong> All new articles will be made under the “Posts” tab on WordPress. Write up the next day’s forecast for the College Park area and have it <\/span>submitted for review by 10:00 pm<\/b> the night BEFORE the day you’re forecasting for<\/strong> (if you will be late just let us know). You do this by saving it as “pending review” in the top right corner of the article editing page.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main responsibilities for editors:<\/strong> once the assigned forecaster submits their article for review, check over it for grammar, formatting, and spelling errors, as well as just general flow of the wording and sentences. Do not change the fundamental information being conveyed in the forecast, as that is the writer’s job to make. Once you’ve given it a look over and it looks good, you will schedule the article to be published the next morning at 8 am.<\/strong><\/p>\n

TIPS:<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When writing a forecast, sometimes it\u2019s best to get a general idea of what weather is anticipated. You can look at existing NWS forecasts, as well as sites such as Weather Underground and WeatherBug. However, these forecasts typically are general and err on the side of caution — particularly with NWS forecasts. There are precipitation chances running all the way down to 1%; generally speaking, when the NWS has precipitation <20%, it is quite likely not even worth mentioning. Check model outputs to determine what<\/span><\/p>\n

Style Guide and Formatting:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

For the sake of consistency, we follow the style of <\/span>Capital Weather Gang<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n