Over the past year, we have undertaken a collaborative effort among our respective institutions as well as the Alaska Department of Transportation to develop an integrated experimental system to ingest meteorological observations and provide a supplemental meteorological forecast capability within interior Alaska. The observations consist of not only those available routinely from NWS sites but also from supplemental networks established within Interior Alaska through a data-sharing agreement. These observations are then incorporated into a triple-grid hierarchy of forecasts using a UAF-modified version of the PSU/NCAR MM5 model, initialized off the current Alaska Eta model operational cycle. The intent of the system is to provide additional forecast information to not only NWS forecasters, but also to the Alaska DOT, other state agencies, and the general public at-large. As such, our system is deliberately designed as an enhancement to, rather than a substitute for, existing NWS-AWIPS systems and information, including an ’off-cycle’ emphasis for our forecasts and a Web-based delivery system. It also includes experimental products and model developments as part of our ongoing NWP research efforts.

In this paper, we describe our efforts and the design methodology of the system, including an evaluation of its utility in its current configuration and our plans for future development. We will also provide a demonstration of the various facets of the Web-based delivery system during the talk.