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Doug Parker

@dougparkermeteo.bsky.social
80 followers 51 following 34 posts

Professor of Meteorology at the University of Leeds; Research Professor at NORCE. Weather; climate; fluid dynamics; tropics and midlatitudes; storms and cyclones. Bicycles.

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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
We are happy to be a partner in the UK's new Multi Hazard Research Network led by the excellent @ids.ac.uk . Our interdisciplinary Leeds team will be contributing to research on floods, heatwaves and other hazards, using models and people centred approaches.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
We were honoured to travel to London yesterday to collect a prize for the FASTA African nowcasting system. Thanks to the big team of people who have contributed to FASTA!
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Nice report on our collaborative work in Ghana: www.meteo.gov.gh/news/gmet-ho...
meteo.gov.gh
GMet Hosts High-Level Scientific Meeting to Advance AI-Driven Weather Forecasting in Ghana
The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) is hosting a two-day high-level technical working meeting at its headquarters in Accra under the Cumulus Project, bringi…
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
Here's an excellent paper from our PhD student James Bassford using theoretical ideas to explain how models represent global and regional rainfall. We are keen to take this work further ...
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Here's the announcement of our new project to create AI-driven forecasts for African farmers. This is led by Turing and Cambridge and funded by Gates Foundation and FCDO. We have some great partners in West Africa; ANACIM and UCAD in Senegal and GMet and KNUST in Ghana.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
I'm honoured to have represented @universityofleeds.bsky.social today at the 30th anniversary of the Queen Elizabeth Prizes at the Mansion House in London. Here I am with Alan Haywood, and our good friend Sue Gray from Reading.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Our paper showing the differences between European and African weather forecast accuracy has appeared online. The results will not surprise meteorologists, but the international development community needs to hear this. Weather forecasting in Africa needs to be done differently.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
I had a SWIFT reunion with Dr Bethwel Mutai from University of Nairobi who's here for the Scenarios Forum. Bethwel is doing great work in Kenya and Somalia on severe weather prediction.
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Reposted by Doug Parker
Priestley Centre for Climate Futures @priestleycentre.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
We're delighted to welcome over 300 delegates to the University of Leeds (and plenty more online) for Scenarios Forum 2025 ✨ Over the next 3 days, experts from across the world will meet to explore the development of global change scenarios, their application, and relevance to diverse challenges.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... In this new paper we describe the trade off between forecast precision and accuracy. The smaller the location you are considering, the lower your forecast accuracy and to get acceptable accuracy we need to increase the spatial scale, the longer we try to predict
sciencedirect.com
Balancing accuracy versus precision: Enhancing the usability of sub-seasonal forecasts
Forecasts are essential for climate adaptation and preparedness, such as in early warning systems and impact models. A key limitation to their practic…
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
johnhammersley.substack.com/p/dialogue-b... Art? Philosophy? Fluid Dynamics? Chaos? I very much enjoyed a dialogue with John Hammersley, which he has turned into something unique.
johnhammersley.substack.com
Dialogue between an artist and Flow
John Hammersley and Douglas Parker
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Reposted by Doug Parker
University of Leeds @universityofleeds.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
We’re teaming up with institutions in Ghana to combat climate challenges and nurture the next generation of scientists. Ghana is vulnerable to lightning and storms, but researchers are working together to install ground-based data sensors across Ghana to help improve storm prediction. 🔭🌍
Dark skies loom over a street in Ghana. Cars travel up and down the street, with multiple people stood by the side of the road.
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John Marsham @johnmarsham.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
@ukceh.bsky.social
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/... People associate tropical deforestation with carbon loss and ecological impacts. The deforestation also causes a reduction in rainfall, as we show in this paper.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Recent Forest Loss in the Brazilian Amazon Causes Substantial Reductions in Dry Season Precipitation
Recent forest loss (3.2%) in the Brazilian Amazon causes a mean 5.4% reduction in dry season precipitation 76.9% of reduced precipitation is due to decreased nonlocal water vapor, not local evapo...
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J. R. Carpenter @jrcarpenter.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Leeds launch event for Measures of Weather —Thursday 1 May 18.30 at Workshop Theatre. I’ll be in conversation with Professor of Meteorology @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social FREE! Save the date! Book tickets via Eventbrite. And please share! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/launch-of-...
LEEDS BOOK LAUNCH EVENT
Join us for an evening of poetry and conversation with poet JR Carpenter and meteorologist Doug Parker to launch JR's new poetry collection
Measures of Weather (Shearsman Books, 2025)
Thursday 1 May, Workshop Theatre, Leeds, 18.30
Everyone is welcome.
Admission is free.
Book tickets via Eventbrite
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
youtu.be/nzPzvdbswnI?... You can now view our panel discussion on the future of African weather forecasting, from the Turing Centre's AIUK event last month.
youtu.be
How will AI transform weather forecasting in Africa
YouTube video by AI UK
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
poetry.leeds.ac.uk/events/launc... I have been invited to contribute to the launch of J R Carpenter's collection of poetry exploring weather and its relations to language, culture and science. All welcome, 1st May at 1830.
poetry.leeds.ac.uk
Launch of J.R. Carpenter's Measures of Weather | University of Leeds Poetry Centre
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
As global temperatures rise, storms are getting more extreme. Our new study in Nature Geoscience led by @drexomole.bsky.social shows how the feedback with soil moisture makes them more extreme still, in various hotspots around the world.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
WISER-EWSA friends, Nico from SAWS, Peggy from ZMD and @adriaanper.bsky.social from Tyrsky, Finland, as guests of the Mozambique met office, INAM, for World Meteorological Day and the 75th anniversary of the World Meteorological Organisation. This afternoon, back to nowcasting of storms.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
www.theguardian.com/technology/2... They are calling this the second revolution in AI weather prediction. Very exciting. We have been working with this team at Turing & Cambridge and with our West African partners to develop plans to use these models to better support African agriculture.
theguardian.com
AI-driven weather prediction breakthrough reported
Researchers say Aardvark Weather uses thousands of times less computing power and is much faster than current systems
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Nice family group at the AI-UK meeting. Caroline Bain from @metoffice.bsky.social was my former PhD student and @michaelbaidu.bsky.social was hers. We are all on a panel to discuss the opportunities of AI forecasting for Africa.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
ai-uk.turing.ac.uk/programme-20... I'm travelling to London this morning with @michaelbaidu.bsky.social to join a panel discussion at AI-UK, the UK's showcase for data science and AI. "How will AI transform weather forecasting in Africa?"
ai-uk.turing.ac.uk
Programme – The Alan Turing Institute
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
It was lovely to catch up with Jemimah Gacheru from Kenya Meteorological Department today. Jemimah was visiting Leeds during her secondment at @ukceh.bsky.social .
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
luckysoap.com/apictureofwi... I had the pleasure of meeting @jrcarpenter.bsky.social today, a practising poet and artist working at @universityofleeds.bsky.social. She is fascinated by history, culture and language in meteorology. I find this web page of hers to be quite haunting.
luckysoap.com
This is a Picture of Wind || J. R. Carpenter
Part poetic almanac, part private weather diary, and part live wind report for the South West of England, this work calls attention to climate change by picturing through variations in language distur...
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
www.meteo.gov.gh/news/ghana-v...
meteo.gov.gh
Ghana Validates Comprehensive Roadmap for Early Warning Systems GMet CMS
In a decisive step toward strengthening Ghana’s resilience against climate-induced hazards, stakeholders convened for a Validation Workshop and Roadmap Presentation aimed at refining the nation’s early warning system. This was a follow-up to the Early Warning for All (EW4All) launch and consultative workshop held in October 2024. Anchored by the UN Secretary General’s Early Warning for All initiative, which seeks universal protection from hazardous events by 2027. The event underscored the urgency of safeguarding lives and livelihoods through a multi-hazard, people-centered approach.
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University of Leeds Press Office @unileedsnews.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Great to see @domspracklen.bsky.social explaining this fascinating @universityofleeds.bsky.social study showing that reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands could help address the climate emergency 🐺 Read the full story 👇 bit.ly/4hFeNvM
bit.ly
Reintroducing wolves to Scottish Highlands could help address climate emergency
Reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands could lead to an expansion of native woodland which could take in and store one million tonnes of CO2 annually, according to a new study led by researche...
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Andy Dougill @andydougill.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
New: Understanding the barriers and knowledge gaps to climate-smart agriculture & climate information services: A multi-stakeholder analysis of smallholder farmers’ uptake in Ghana - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Understanding the barriers and knowledge gaps to climate-smart agriculture and climate information services: A multi-stakeholder analysis of smallholder farmers’ uptake in Ghana
The uptake of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and climate information services (CIS) among Ghanaian smallholder farmers remains low despite their prom…
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
ml-env-for.leeds.ac.uk/indabax-mada... This hackathon organised in Madagascar by one of our students, Mendrika Rakotomanga, showed how AI is democratising weather prediction. 18 student participants were able to create an accurate AI based nowcasting system.
ml-env-for.leeds.ac.uk
IndabaX Madagascar 2024 | Machine-learning for environmental prediction
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/n...
leeds.ac.uk
Improving early warnings of thunderstorms
Meteorological experts and students are working together to improve early warnings of severe thunderstorms in Southern Africa.
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Steve Tobias @stevetobias.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
It is a great honour to take up the Tait Chair of Mathematical Physics at @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social. I will arrive in June 2025. www.ph.ed.ac.uk/news/2025/ch...
ph.ed.ac.uk
Championing Mathematical Physics in Edinburgh
Professor Steve Tobias appointed Tait Chair of Mathematical Physics.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Adriaan Perrels of Tyrsky Consulting has created an economic analysis of the value of short range weather forecasting and nowcasting in Zambia. His results are demonstrating the viability of investment in these services and will form the basis for business models.
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Priestley Centre for Climate Futures @priestleycentre.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Dr Daniel Bradley, Head of Climate and Environment at the UK Mission to the European Union, is hosting a seminar discussing the EU-UK collaboration on climate. 🗓️ Thurs 13 Feb ⏰ 16:00 – 17:00 📍 In-person, SEE seminar rooms (Chatham House rules) Register below 👇 climate.leeds.ac.uk/events/eu-uk...
Adobe stock image of a crashing wave with blue sky behind.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Katharine Vincent is introducing a user engagement workshop with disability groups in District 13 of Kanyama, Lusaka. People with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of flooding. We are sending storm alerts to these communities and tailoring the content to their needs.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Chris Taylor from @ukceh.bsky.social is very happy to see a heavy rain shower successfully predicted in the WISER-EWSA testbed in Lusaka. An alert was sent to community mobilisers. Simon and Kasia from @universityofleeds.bsky.social have been working with the Zambian forecasters.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/... Here's a new paper from @franmorris.bsky.social working out the relationship between circulations on large and small scales in tropical storms. This is a key process in weather prediction and helps us understand severe local weather in larger systems.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Closing the Circulation Budget
The circulation budget is useful for identifying the physical processes driving weather systems even when it does not close perfectly An accurate representation of the subgrid scale momentum tran...
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Chris Taylor from @ukceh.bsky.social is presenting an overview of new satellite based rainfall prediction tools. Forecasters will be using these tools in the testbed, and in their daily work after that.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
We are in Zambia for our second intensive forecasting and nowcasting testbed. Today is a final training session for the forecasters, and final preparations with our urban community partners.
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
A fallen tree on the corner of Woodhouse Moor from the winds in storm Éowyn. Luckily the Duke's wellingtons are more firmly attached.
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Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
The University of Leeds has become the first Russell Group university to officially announce that it is quitting Elon Musk’s social media site X. It will, however, be alive and well on Bluesky. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
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Doug Parker @dougparkermeteo.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Here's a nice new study where we explain something about rain falling below clouds, which you can often see visually. Figure 1 is one of my holiday snaps. In the right conditions, raindrops fall as a "swarm" followed by a descending mass of cold air. rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Rain in convective downdraughts
This study presents results from the simulation of idealised, rain-laden downdraughts using the large-eddy model MONC. It is found that a drier environment has the effect of increasing cooling in the...
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