BASIC CONTEST INFORMATION
      
  The contest is comprised of four divisions:

        Division 1: Faculty, Staff
        Division 2: Graduate Students
        Division 3: Juniors and Seniors
        Division 4: Freshmen and Sophomores


				2005-2006
	     National Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest

Basic Rules and Procedures:

1. Participants forecast three parameters each Monday through Thursday of
the contest:

   The maximum and minimum temperatures (whole degrees F) from 06Z to 06Z
and the amount of liquid equivalent precipitation by category during the same
24-hour period.

   Precipitation categories are:

                0 -- no precipitation or a trace
                1 -- trace to 0.05" of liquid or liquid equivalent, inclusive
                2 -- 0.06 to 0.24", inclusive
                3 -- 0.25 to 0.49", inclusive
                4 -- 0.50 to 0.99", inclusive
                5 -- 1.00" or greater

Error points are scored as follows:
Temperature - 1 per degree.     Precipitation - 4 per category.

2. All forecasts must be completed by 2350 UTC

3. Forecasters who fail to make a forecast will be assigned persistence values.
This means that conditions which occurred on the day when the forecast should
have been made will be assigned in place of the missing forecast.

   If you know in advance that you cannot make a forecast for the next day(s),
several options are available:

        a) do nothing and take persistence as your forecast
        b) make a forecast ahead of time
        c) choose to make a guidance forecast which will be taken from the
           12Z NGM MOS temps and NGM WMO 211-grid precipitation predictions.
        d) make an adjusted guidance or adjusted persistence forecast.

4. Individuals who fail to forecast daily risk disqualification. Any forecaster
who is assigned persistence and/or takes adjusted persistence, guidance or
adjusted guidance on more than 2 of the 8 days in a period will be disqualified
from this period. Any forecaster who is assigned persistence or takes guidance
or adjusted guidance on more than 25% of the days in the entire contest will be
disqualified from receiving any of the cumulative awards when the contest ends.
IN OTHER WORDS, USE PERSISTENCE AND GUIDANCE SPARINGLY.

5. Forecasters who have responsibilities that prevent them from participating
in a period in which their school has entered may opt-out of that period
before it begins. The local manager must assemble a list of those who have
opted-out and send them to the nfcmgr account by Friday of the week before
the period begins.  So, notify Bill Syrett by then if you will be opting out.

        A complete set of rules is available at the official NCWFC web site:
                        http://www.ems.psu.edu/NFC