Machine learning and artificial intelligence are some of the hottest topics in the past few decades. They have caught wide attention because their applications as diverse as data mining, self-driving cars, fingerprint identification, financial services and other fields.

Every year, somewhere between April and September, the Indian monsoon arrives. When exactly the rainy season begins depends not only on geography, but also on other meteorological and climatological factors that can alter the monsoon arrival by nearly two months! Such a drastic year-to-year difference holds a large amount of significance to decisions makers across the country.

When most people think of a weather forecast, they usually think of a forecast 1-10 days in advance. While these forecasts are the most familiar, they are only one end of a spectrum. On the other end are forecasts that range up to months in advance. Farmers in the developing world are increasingly using these types of forecasts to make decisions that directly impact their livelihoods.