Abstract
The main objective of this article is to describe the factors and issues responsible for the evolution of the weather forecast in Brazil.This is done based on a historical review of the formation and evolution of the national meteorological services in the last 170 yearsand on the development of weather forecasting methods. Changes in the routines of weather forecasting services in two centenaryBrazilian institutions, the National Institute of Meteorology and the Brazilian Navy, since the creation of the first subjective forecaststo the present day, are highlighted. Information about the 14 undergraduate courses in Meteorology in Brazil is given, which supportthe technological development of this science, through scientific research and training of human resources. The introduction ofmeteorological radar in the 1970s, and its current networks, as well as the elaboration of the first numerical weather predictions (NWP)by the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (Centro de Previsão do Tempo e Estudos Climáticos do Instituto Nacionalde Pesquisas Espaciais – CPTEC/INPE), in 1995, are also described. To complement, a survey is presented, showing the currentworking conditions of weather forecasters. The survey results reveal that 45% of the 102 meteorologists interviewed use the CzechRepublic Windy application to prepare their weather forecasts operationally and almost 60% use the Wyoming University website toobtain data from radiosondes launched in Brazil. It is important to highlight that, since the introduction of NWP by CPTEC/INPE, at theend of the 1990s, there has been a great advance in the field of weather forecasting. Moreover, observational networks have undergonea great expansion, with a significant increase in the number of weather stations in recent decades. Despite all the progress achieved,there is still a need for the integration of observational networks and databases of various institutions. Finally, the development ofapplications that meet the demand of young meteorologists in the operational centers is advisable.
Highlights
The word “synoptic” comes from the Greek “synoptkós” which means to present an overview of the whole, to elaborate a synopsis
Synoptic Meteorology is a branch of Meteorology that deals with the diagnosis and forecast of meteorological systems with spatial and temporal scales around 1000 km and 2 weeks respectively (Gerrity et al 2020)
The results show the three preferred sites where meteorologists access each type of information: For satellite images (Figure 1A), Windy was the most voted (30.4% of meteorologists) and in second place was CPTEC/INPE (29.4%), followed by INMET (18.6%)
Summary
The word “synoptic” comes from the Greek “synoptkós” which means to present an overview of the whole, to elaborate a synopsis. In Brazil, the first activities of the Central Meteorological Department of the Navy (Repartição Central Meteorológica da Marinha), the current Navy Hydrography Center (Centro de Hidrografia da Marinha - CHM) in 1888, and the current National Institute of Meteorology (Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia INMET) in 1909, were aimed at providing weather warnings respectively to sailors and farmers (Oliveira 2009). Such warnings would later develop into weather forecasts for these users.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
