Effects of Synoptic Surveillance on model forecasts for
30 August 2004 0000 UTC
Frances.


Quicktime movie of AVN DLM wind model forecast
Quicktime movie of DLM wind data increment


TRACK AND INTENSITY PERFORMANCE

TRACK (km)
MODEL12 h24 h36 h48 h60 h72 h84 h96 h108 h120 h
AVNN 69 94130 99 46 68 137178202242
AVNO 25 44 35 59 62113153193232260
%IMP64%53% 73%51%-38%-66%-12%-8%-15%-7%
GFNO 25 53 76 74 61 84 80111137 219
GFDL 11 11 24 30 44 78 91112136 233
%IMP56% 79% 68%59%28% 7%-14%-1% 1%-6%
INTENSITY (kt)
MODEL12 h24 h36 h48 h60 h72 h84 h96 h108 h120 h
AVNN-69-72-76-78-78-74-77-63-46-29
AVNO-67-69-73-77-78-76-79-67-51-35
%IMP 3% 4% 4% 1% 0%-3%-3%-6%-11%-21%
GFNO 3 10 7 -3-13-19-33-25-10 3
gfdl 3 7 4 -9-11-13-25-22 -9 3
%IMP 0%30%43%-200%15% 32%24%12%10% 0%

Landfall forecasts

02/1930 UTC 24.0N 74.5W San Salvador Island, Bahamas 91.5 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN 24.5374.15105.5 68.7San Salvador Island, Bahamas
AVNO25.5874.60115.5175.8Acklins Island, Bahamas
%IMP -71%-156%
GFNO25.2074.80 96.0217.4Well offshore Cat Island, Bahamas
GFDL25.4174.70 99.0157.9San Salvador Island, Bahamas
%IMP -67% 27%
03/0530 UTC 24.6N 75.6W Northern end of Cat Island, Bahamas 101.5 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN No landfall forecast
AVNONo landfall forecast
%IMP
GFNO25.7575.29101.0131.5Well offshore Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
GFDL25.8975.20103.5148.8Near Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
%IMP-300% -13%
03/1000 UTC 25.1N 76.1W Eleuthera Island, Bahamas 106.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN No landfall forecast
AVNONo landfall forecast
GFNO26.9476.37112.0206.2Near Abaco Island, Bahamas
GFDL27.0076.17113.0211.2Abaco Island, Bahama
%IMP -17% -2%
04/1000 UTC 26.6N 78.2W Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas 130.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN No landfall forecast
AVNONo landfall forecast
%IMP
GFNONo landfall forecast
GFDLNo landfall forecast
%IMP
05/0430 UTC 27.2N 80.2W South end of Hutchinson Island, FL 148.5 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN No landfall forecast
AVNONo landfall forecast
%IMP
GFNONo landfall forecast
GFDLNo landfall forecast
%IMP
06/1800 UTC 30.1N 84.0W Mouth of Aucilla River, FL 186.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN No landfall forecast
AVNONo landfall forecast
%IMP
GFNONo landfall forecast
GFDLNo landfall forecast
%IMP

Figure 1. NCEP 850 - 200 hPa mean wind analysis for 30 August 2004 0000 UTC (Hurricane Frances).

Figure 2. Track forecasts for the no dropwindsonde (NO or NN) and the all dropwindsonde (AL) runs for the AVN and GFDL models initialized on 30 August 2004 0000 UTC.

Figure 3. NCEP Global Ensemble Predction System track forecasts for all cyclones in the Atlantic basin initialized from 28 August 2004 0600 UTC to 29 August 2004 0000 UTC, showing the tracks of Hurricane Frances.

Figure 4. Ensemble perturbation variance at the nominal sampling time 30 August 2004 0000 UTC from the previous day NCEP ensemble forecast. The green circles represent the dropwindsonde locations.

Figure 5. Variance explained within the verification region (large red circle) for observations taken at the sampling time 30 August 2004 0000 UTC from the Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter run from the previous day NCEP ensemble forecast. The green circles represent the dropwindsonde locations.

Figure 6. Initial condition differences in the 850 - 200 hPa mean wind between the no and all dropwindsonde cases for 30 August 2004 0000 UTC. The circles represent the dropwindsonde locations.

Figure 7. 24-h forecast differences in the 850 - 200 hPa mean wind between the no and all dropwindsonde cases for 30 August 2004 0000 UTC.