雷暴下的大峡谷国家公园，亚利桑那州 Grand Canyon National Park during a thunderstorm, Arizona (© spkeelin/Getty Images)

雷暴下的大峡谷国家公园，亚利桑那州 Grand Canyon National Park during a thunderstorm, Arizona (© spkeelin/Getty Images)

天气预报的重要性 The importance of weather prediction

World Meteorological Day

Did you check the weather forecast today? Does it look like rain? Will it turn colder? What's the outlook for the weekend? These may be some of the most frequently asked questions anywhere. Given our reliance on weather prediction, let's tip the rain hat to the world's weather experts on World Meteorological Day, celebrated each March 23 by the United Nation's World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The 2022 theme for World Meteorological Day is 'Early Warning and Early Action. Hydrometeorological and Climate Information for Disaster Risk Reduction.' That's a mouthful, but it essentially boils down to the importance of predicting high-precipitation weather events and mitigating or preventing the damage caused by them.

Worldwide, floods cause more than $40 billion in damage each year. They're the most common type of natural disaster. In the United States flash floods claim more lives than tornadoes, hurricanes, or lightning. But with accurate predictions and appropriate warning systems, people living in an area likely to flood can know the severity of upcoming threats and plan accordingly. Thanks to the study of hydrometeorology, forecasts can predict the impact days and even weeks in advance. Long-term projections can even give an idea of what's coming several months from now. And we thought that weather app was just to tell us whether or not we'll need an umbrella.

世界气象日

你看过今天的天气预报了吗？看起来要下雨吗？天气会变冷吗？周末的前景如何？这些可能是任何地方最常被问到的问题之一。鉴于我们对天气预报的依赖，让我们在每年3月23日由联合国世界气象组织（WMO）庆祝的世界气象日向世界气象专家致敬。

2022年世界气象日的主题是“预警和早期行动”。减少灾害风险的水文气象和气候信息。”这是一口空话，但本质上可以归结为预测高降水天气事件以及减轻或防止它们造成的损害的重要性。

在世界范围内，洪水每年造成超过400亿美元的损失。它们是最常见的自然灾害类型。在美国，山洪暴发夺走的生命比龙卷风、飓风或闪电还多。但是，有了准确的预测和适当的预警系统，生活在可能发生洪水的地区的人们可以知道即将到来的威胁的严重性，并据此制定计划。由于对水文气象学的研究，预报可以提前几天甚至几周预测影响。长期预测甚至可以给出几个月后的情况。我们以为天气应用程序只是告诉我们是否需要雨伞。