ML4WX

Extremes & hazards

Probabilistic forecasting of tropical cyclones intensity using machine learning model

Fan Meng, Yichen Yao, Zhibin Wang, Shiqiu Peng, Danya Xu, Tao Song

Environmental Research Letters · · Alibaba (DAMO Academy)

PaperPDF

In one sentence. Machine learning gives probabilistic tropical cyclone intensity forecasts with intervals, and its point forecasts outperform an operational statistical-dynamical model over 2010–2020.

Abstract

Abstract This study proposes a machine learning approach to probabilistic forecasting of tropical cyclone (TC) intensity. The earth system is complex and nonlinear, leading to inherent uncertainty in TC forecasting at all times, and therefore a representation of this uncertainty should be provided. Previous studies construct this uncertainty through ensemble or statistical methods, neither of which can directly characterize this uncertainty and suffer from problems such as excessive computational effort. And for this reason, we propose to assess the forecast without this uncertainty through the forecast distribution. Meanwhile, none of the previous studies on TC intensity forecasting by artificial intelligence methods characterize the uncertainty, so this study is a new supplement to data-driven TC forecasting. During the 2010–2020 evaluation period, the model’s point forecast can outperform the current state-of-the-art operational statistic-dynamical model results, and can obtain forecast intervals to provide reliable probabilistic forecasts, which are critical for disaster warnings.

Labels

Topic
Extremes & hazards, Probabilistic & ensemble forecasting
Type
New model or method
Method
Classical ML (trees, GP, linear, kernels)
Time scale
6 h–3 days
Domain
Regional
Data
Other
Status
Research
Identifiers
DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/acc8eb OpenAlex:W4361264505
Added
2026-10-22

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