The status and applications of numerical weather predictions are intro duced to weather forecasters in operational posts in a way of nonspecialist te rminology. Following a historical review with the stress on the achievements and unsolved issues in the latest decade, the merits and shortcomings of forecasts by numerical models and experiencesbased methodologies are compared. The combi nation of the superiorities of two kinds of approaches is emphasized. The impact s of technical developments of numerical weather prediction on the interpretatio n and application of model outputs, and the possible roles the forecaster may pl ay in the further development of NWP are also discussed.