Storm Scale Forecasts and Observations of a North Alabama Hailstorm on December 10, 2004

At the Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center in Huntsville, AL, an operational configuration of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model is being used in conjunction with a suite of regional observing systems including a 3-d total lightning mapping system, a dual-polarization 5-cm radar, and a mobile atmospheric profiling system, to produce daily high resolution products to gain insight into the initiation and evolution of hazardous and severe storms in the southeast U.S. These products are made available to the surrounding NWS forecast offices in near real-time. A wintertime hailstorm on December 10, 2004 is used to showcase the use of these assets in assessing a short-range forecast of thunderstorm threat using a 2 km configuration of the WRF.