Extended Abstract (2.3M)10R.4
Detailed comparison of observed and modeled tornadogenesis
Donald W. Burgess, CIMMS/Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK; and D. C. Dowell, L. J. Wicker, and A. Witt
Previous work by the authors (22nd Severe Storms Conference) examined WSR-88D radar observations of the 8 May 2003 Oklahoma City, OK tornadic supercell and model representations produced by assimilating radar observations into a numerical cloud model. Overall evolution of the modeled storm was compared to the radar observations. Furthermore, the feasibility of initializing a high-resolution forecast model with the assimilation results was tested.
This work closely examines the time interval of the formation of a violent (F4) tornado from the 8 May storm and compares high-resolution model data to high-resolution radar observations. The high-resolution model data are produced by ensemble Kalman filter assimilation of radar observations into the NSSL Collaborative Model for Multi-scale Atmospheric Simulation (NCOMMAS). NCOMMAS output at 500-m grid spacing and 1-minute intervals are compared to OKC-area TDWR radar observations. The very-near-range-to-the-storm TDWR data feature horizontal and vertical resolution of about 200 m and updates every minute. Low-level TDWR radial velocities are combined with KTLX WSR-88D radial velocities to produce dual-Doppler horizontal wind fields at 5-minute intervals to compare observed and modeled horizontal wind vectors. Areas of agreement and disagreement between observed and modeled tornadogenesis processes will be summarized.
Session 10R, Severe weather studies employing radar
Friday, 28 October 2005, 10:30 AM-12:15 PM, Alvarado ABCD
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