The WxChallenge is a weather forecasting competition between colleges in North America. The competition is run by the University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma

The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

. In its first official semester, fall 2006, there were 1,262 participants from 53 institutions. A similar competition, the National Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest

National Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest

The National Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest, or NCWFC, was a yearly competition among colleges and Universities in the US run by Penn State. There were over 1000 participants from about 45 institutions...

, recently ended, partially due to this competition.

Organization

Entrants in the contest must be affiliated with a college or university, but they range in age and knowledge from undergraduates to professors. Each semester, 5 cities are picked for forecasting; the current city changes every 2 weeks. Contestants forecast

Weather forecasting

Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...

 4 days per week for the following day's high temperature

Temperature

Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...

 (in Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...

), low temperature, maximum sustained wind speed (in knots) and precipitation

Precipitation (meteorology)

In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

 (in 1/100ths of an inch).

One "error" point is given for each degree of error on temperature, 1/2 an error point is given for each knot of wind speed error.

Precipitation is scored as follows:

• 0.4 points for each .01 inch of error in the verification range from 0.00 to 0.10 inches inclusive
• 0.3 points for each .01 inch of error in the verification range from 0.11 to 0.25 inches inclusive
• 0.2 points for each .01 inch of error in the verification range from 0.26 to 0.50 inches inclusive
• 0.1 points for each .01 inch of error in the verification range over 0.50 inches

At the end of the competition, the top 64 forecasters continue into a "March Madness" like tournament where a champion is crowned. A trophy is given to the champion, as well as the runner-up and the other two forecasters who make it to the "Final Four".

Winners

• 2006-07: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
  
  
• 2007-08: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
  
  
• 2008-09: Mississippi State University
  Mississippi State University
  The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science commonly known as Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States, partially in the town of Starkville and partially in an unincorporated area...
  
  
• 2009-10: Mississippi State University
  Mississippi State University
  The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science commonly known as Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States, partially in the town of Starkville and partially in an unincorporated area...