Have you ever wondered how our forecasts and outlooks are formatted?  Well, this news page should explain!  Below you will find examples, definitions of the terminology we use, and learn a little about the work that our forecasters put into each forecast and outlook.

5-Day Forecast Page: 

 

The 5-Day Forecast page allows for you to see a graphic and text view of a general summarized forecast for south central Wisconsin, based on the Madison Metropolitan area.  First, on the top you will see the icons the forecaster prepares, with a short description of the icon and high/low temperature below it.  It looks like this:

 

Next, farther down on this page you will see the text summary for each day, for seven days out.  It includes high/low temperatures, sky conditions, precipitation chances and types (if necessary); with wind speed and direction forecast for 4 days out.  Farther down, below the "$$" (which we'll get to later) you can see what forecaster did the short term, and who did the long term.  Each forecaster is also assigned a number, ex. "2."   You may also see this next to their name/initials. (ex. AML/02)

 

 

The "Zone Forecast" page provides a more detailed version of your forecast.  The zone forecast breaks down our Forecast area into sections (these sections are adjusted based on similar weather) and provide a detailed look at the forecast for the short term for your county!  If you live outside the Madison Metro area, then you are more likely going to want to use this page.  To tell which section of the product is for your county, look at the header for each section.  Below is a picture of it.  The first section is for Dane County.  The top line of the header reads: "WIZ063" which is the county code (used by the entire emergency alert system) for Dane.  Below that you see the name(s) of the counties included in this section.  The one line further down you see the main cities in this county or counties.  Finally, below that is the last time it was updated by our forecasters.  After each section you will see "$$" knowing you are done with that county.

 

 

This will be the final page we will highlight on this informational page.  The Hazardous Weather Outlook provides a look at possible hazardous weather conditions over the next seven days.  The first section of the page, is "Day One."  Followed below is the outlook for "Days Two through Seven."

 

Now, we're going to explain to you the format of all of our text products.  In the heading at the top there are three lines.  The first is the title of the forecast or outlook you are looking at.  In the picture below it reads: "Hazardous Weather Outlook."  The second line states who/where the forecast was issued.  Obviously, our forecasts will say ALAC Weather Service, and the Madison/Middleton, WI is our location.  In the final line of our header is the time this forecast/outlook was issued.  As you can see this one below was issued at 5:28 PM CDT on Friday, August 21, 2009.  Then, if you look farther down on the outlook below you see "$$."  This formally states it is the end of the forecast/outlook.  Underneath the double dollar sign you will see either initials or a last name.  In this one you see "AML" referring to Austin Lacey.  This means that Austin Lacey wrote and issued this outlook. 

 

Thank you for viewing this page, and we always appreciate your feedback.  Send us an email at: questions@alacweather.com with your comments/suggestions/or comments.