High Impact Weather: Bridging Disciplinary Gaps

The Final Conference of the 10-year High Impact Weather (HIWeather) Project of the WMO World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), held in in Munich, Germany, from 9 to 13 September, showcased the achievements of the project and celebrated its success. The HIWeather project, which will conclude in December, aimed to help increase resilience to high impact weather through cooperative international research that would improve forecasts for timescales of minutes to two weeks, enhance the communication of forecasts and improve their utility in social, economic and environmental applications.

The HIWeather project brought 134 researchers from various disciplines together to explore how to enhance the provision of weather-related warnings using a “Warning Chain Thinking” approach that focused on the warning system as a whole. This approach emphasized the partnership between disciplines, organizations, decision-makers and users. The project’s three flagship activities – Value Chain, Citizen Science, and Impact-based Forecasting and Warnings – focused on characterizing and evaluating the weather warning process, establishing the path for including citizen science in weather forecasts, and exploring the development of impact-based forecasts and warnings. Good practices in those areas were captured in the HIWeather book, "Towards the Perfect Weather Warning", which promotes the need for interdisciplinary partnership. In addition, more than 430 publications were published by HIWeather to advance and document warning capability.

The conference brought together over 100 experts and practitioners from the six WMO regions to celebrate, share new understanding and look to the future. Through a variety of talks, panel discussions, workshops and posters, participants shared insights and explored the future of early warnings and actions to benefit communities worldwide. The participation of over 30 early-career professionals and representatives from the Young Earth System Scientist (YESS) community further broadened the range of insights.

As the project concludes, its legacy will continue, broadening its benefits and shaping future activities. The HIWeather project has brought research and application communities closer together to bridge the gap between advanced scientific knowledge and its application towards the common goal of increasing resilience.

Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich, Hans Ertel Centre, and the Catalyst Fund were key contributors to the event.