An integrated system for objective seasonal climate forecasting in West Africa

Abstract

Seasonal climate forecasts are essential for climate-risk management and agricultural decision-making in West Africa, yet operational Regional Climate Outlook Forum (RCOF) products often remain consensus-based, with limitations in reproducibility, traceability, and high-resolution probabilistic detail. We present WAS-NextGen, an objective, automated, and integrated multi-method seasonal forecasting framework that operationalizes WMO guidance on rigorous and verifiable seasonal forecasting. Data associated with this development is publicly distributed here.