Extended Abstract (788K)4.4
Use of IFPS in Western Region, National Weather Service
Andy Edman, NOAA/NWS, Salt Lake City, UT; and K. J. Schrab
Producing gridded forecasts in complex terrain poses special challenges and opportunities. Weather can vary dramatically across the west due to terrain. During a typical winter storm event, it is not uncommon for rain to be falling in the valleys, snow falling in the foothills and heavy snow in the higher elevations. Precipitation amounts can vary by an order of magnitude within 10 to 20 miles due to effect of complex terrain. Western Region, National Weather Service has recently begun to implement the IFPS into operations. However, six sites plus Scientific Services Division (SSD) have been actively involved in the Rapid Prototyping Project (RPP) to explore the gridded forecast issues in anticipation of the IFPS implementation. How to produce accurate gridded forecasts in complex terrain while minimizing the impact to forecaster workload is a challenge. Several examples will be illustrating the challenge and some preliminary approaches to solving the problem will be discussed.
Session 4, Interactive Forecast Preparation System—A Regional Perspective
Tuesday, 15 January 2002, 9:45 AM-12:00 PM
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