Comparison of Quantitative Precipitation Estimates and Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts in Mountainous Terrain

High-based convection, shallow winter storms, and topographic effects often result in inaccurate quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) from radar data alone. This research used QPE radar data and California Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC) Mountain Mapper (MM) QPE data for verification purposes of quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF). A comparative analysis was done using radar QPE, CNRFC MM QPE, QPF results, and selected gauge data on both sides of the Sierra Nevada. Results showed that the radar QPE estimates were often larger than the gauge measurements, while the CNRFC MM QPE had mixed results with the gauge measurements. From these results, forecasters will be able to utilize radar measurements, in real-time, with MM data for short term forecasting purposes through a method that allows a forecast office to compare gridded precipitation forecasts from the CNRFC with radar QPE.