In the context of the global climate change, severe weather is increasingly threatening the sustainable development of all countries, especially, developing countries. Thus an accurate and reliable weather forecast and the warning information are essential. This paper analyzes the Severe Weather Forecasting Demonstration Project (SWFDP) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), including its initial concept and the status of regional subprojects. Currently, 8 regional subprojects were set up, covering about 80 countries. The recent technical progresses of the severe weather forecasting are reviewed, including the global deterministic numerical models, the regional numerical models, the ensemble prediction systems and the meteorological satellite data applications. The SWFDP involves a cascading forecasting process to provide an effective access to the products and the tools made available by the advanced operational global and regional centres. The basic characteristics of the numerical models and the operational systems in the major domestic and international meteorological centers are analyzed. Furthermore, current challenges for the development of the severe weather forecasting demonstration project are analyzed and the prospects of the project as well as the numerical model applications are discussed.

severe weather  /  numerical models  /  world meteorological organization