On the use of a coastal mesonet to improve operations at an NWS forecast office

The National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office located in Newport/Morehead City, NC (WFO MHX) is responsible for issuing a suite of forecast products and various watches and warnings for an area that expands from the Outer Banks inland to the Coastal Plains of Eastern North Carolina. Forecast operations in this region are significantly influenced by many physical processes unique to the littoral zone. Sea breezes, frontal systems, tropical cyclones, and a wide variety of convective systems are all examples of weather events that remain difficult to forecast. To compound, large expanses of the WFO MHX forecast area are covered by water and relatively void of observations. The adjacent Atlantic Ocean, Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds plus numerous tributaries play important roles in heat flux exchange, but make for a difficult environment to place observational assets.

Fortunately, this same area is rich in water-related recreational activity

assets which have provided the impetus for a private weather company, Weatherflow Inc., to place a rather expansive observing network of weather stations in the region. Weatherflow's web-based consumer products are geared towards improving the enjoyment for enthusiasts of various activities such as windsurfing, kiteboarding, surfing, and fishing. The Newport NWS has gained access to these data through an MOA that promotes cooperation between the public and private sectors and find this network of high utility in helping achieve its mission of protecting life and property. Of the various uses of this network include its use in the preparation and verification of watches and warnings in addition to aiding routine forecast processes. In particular, observations from the mesonet are routinely used to help gauge how models are initializing, and thus useful when issuing public, fire weather, and marine forecasts. Finally, mesonet observations are a necessity with respect to verifying and issuing high wind advisories and warnings, special marine warnings, and severe thunderstorm warnings.

This presentation will describe the mesonet, then give various examples of individual weather events and how the NWS is able to improve its mission objectives with the use of these data.