Model:

Times Series from the ECMWF

Updated:
Update monthly
Greenwich Mean Time:
12:00 UTC = 01:00 NZDT
Resolution:
1.0° x 1.0°
Parameter:
Lifted Index
Description:

The Lifted Index (LI) is defined as a rising parcel's temperature when it reaches the 500 millibars level (at about 5,500m or 18,000 feet asl), subtracted from the actual temperature of the environmental air at 500 mbar. If the Lifted Index is a large negative number, then the parcel will be much warmer than its surroundings, and will continue to rise. Thunderstorms are fueled by strong rising air, thus the Lifted Index is a good measurement of the atmosphere's potential to produce severe thunderstorms.

The Lifted Index (LI)
RANGE IN K
COLOR
AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY
THUNDERSTORM PROBABILITY
more than 11
BLUE
Extremely stable conditions
Thunderstorms unlikely
8 to 11
LIGHT BLUE
Very stable conditions
Thunderstorms unlikely
4 to 7
GREEN
Stable conditions
Thunderstorms unlikely
0 to 3
LIGHT GREEN
Mostly stable conditions
Thunderstorm unlikely
-3 to -1
YELLOW
Slightly unstable
Thunderstorms possible
-5 to -4
ORANGE
Unstable
Thunderstorms probable
-7 to -6
RED
Highly unstable
Severe thunderstorms possible
less than -7
VIOLET
Extremely unstable
Violent thunderstorms, tornadoes possible

Introduction to seasonal forecasting:
The production of seasonal forecasts, also known as seasonal climate forecasts, has undergone a huge transformation in the last few decades: from a purely academic and research exercise in the early '90s to the current situation where several meteorological forecast services, throughout the world, conduct routine operational seasonal forecasting activities. Such activities are devoted to providing estimates of statistics of weather on monthly and seasonal time scales, which places them somewhere between conventional weather forecasts and climate predictions.
 
In that sense, even though seasonal forecasts share some methods and tools with weather forecasting, they are part of a different paradigm which requires treating them in a different way. Instead of trying to answer to the question "how is the weather going to look like on a particular location in an specific day?", seasonal forecasts will tell us how likely it is that the coming season will be wetter, drier, warmer or colder than 'usual' for that time of year. This kind of long term predictions are feasible due to the behaviour of some of the Earth system components which evolve more slowly than the atmosphere (e.g. the ocean, the cryosphere) and in a predictable fashion, so their influence on the atmosphere can add a noticeable signal.
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