Jerome Namias (1910–1997) pioneered the art and science of long-range weather forecasting. He also set off the modern era of research in climate and atmospheric science at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Largely self-taught, Namias developed an exceptional physical intuition for the intricate interplay between atmosphere and ocean. In an era when the skill of weather forecasts was limited to two or three days, Namias advocated the heretical notion that climate, the sum total of weather, might be predictable for weeks, months, or even longer. He was among the first to realize that planetary-scale air-sea interactions strongly influence climate variability and thereby make certain, specialized types of predictions possible far beyond the time horizon of ordinary weather forecasts.

Somerville, R.C.J. 2003. Climate and atmospheric science at Scripps: The legacy of Jerome Namias. Oceanography 16(3):93–97, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2003.37.

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