The operational GFDL hurricane prediction system has been coupled with the Princeton Ocean Model and implemented to run at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) during the hurricane season. In this paper, the new coupled hurricane ocean prediction system will be described. Numerical results will be shown focusing on the 1995-1997 hurricane seasons. The effects of the inclusion of ocean interaction and potential improvements of hurricane intensity prediction will be addressed.
The coupled model will be running in a near real-time mode during the 1998 hurricane season. An analysis of the model performance will also be presented.