Extended Abstract (1020K)1.5
An Analysis of MM5 Performance for Four Major Snowstorms over the Korean Peninsula
Peter B. Roohr, CIRES/Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO; and G. Brooks
Over the two winters of 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, South Korea experienced many snowstorms, some of which left well over 6 inches of snow. Forecasters at the 607th Weather Squadron, located at Yongsan Army Installation in downtown Seoul, have access to output from the AF Weather Agency’s Mesoscale Model Version 5 (MM5), developed originally by Penn State University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This paper takes a look at how the MM5 performed for one winter storm in 1999-2000 and three winter storms in 2000-2001. In one storm the MM5 accurately predicted the wind direction responsible for keeping now falling north of Seoul along the Demilitarized Zone. In two major storms of Jan and Feb 2001, MM5 did a very good job of picking up the enhanced instability that led to heavy snowfall around Seoul and areas north and east of the city. It also did well in helping forecasters in Seoul determine where the snow-rain line existed. For the final storm, MM5 identified moderate snow amounts behind a strong front in the northern ROK; the fact that snow occurred in an area not usually affected by post-frontal snow makes this case interesting.
Session 1, Case Studies I
Monday, 12 August 2002, 10:30 AM-11:45 AM
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