INTRODUCTION

    For a long time, the weather forecasting has been the ambition of many people. The number of bywords and proverbs, which are all different, ambiguous but sometime pertinent, express this wish.

Every day, each person wants to have accurate and sure meteorological forecasting and formulate his own opinion on the weather to come.

 Weather forecasting is a science and an art but more and more a science and less and less an art.

 Forecasting the weather is a science because the atmosphere obeys physical laws. These laws are expressed relatively simply in mathematical language. However, the equations, which are associated, are too complex for human understanding. We must use numerical methods, so we use very powerful computers.

In this way, by observing the atmosphere on the whole of the globe, we can assimilate it as a pattern and can thus calculate the evolution over a period of 5 days.

Because of the lack of precision of the initial conditions and of the assimilation of a pattern, after a certain moment, the pattern can no longer be used. This limit is usually about 10 days, but it will never be possible to pass 2 or 3 weeks.

 Weather forecasting is also an art. It is an art, which of course is not based on poetic inspiration, but instead an appraisal aided by reason, experimentation, and accumulated knowledge.

 Nowadays, forecasting is based on the association of science and art. Thanks to this, we can avoid several disasters.

 In this CD ROM, we will explain the principal phenomenon, how it is possible to forecast them, which devices which are used, and the consequences of the weather for material and people are.

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