Amira Nasser Mostafa, Egyptian Meteorological Authority, Cairo, Egypt, Endalkachew Bekele, NOAA, Climate Prediction Center, College Park, MD, United States, Wassila Mamadu Thiaw, Climate Prediction Center, NOAA/NWS/NCEP, Climate Prediction Center, McLean, VA, United States, Ashraf Zakey, The Egyptian Meteorological Authority, Cairo, Egypt and Mohamed Magdy Abdel-Wahab, Cairo University, Astronomy and Meteorology Department, Giza, Egypt