Effects of Synoptic Surveillance on model forecasts for
02 September 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 23 23 55 41 68 40 59 53160224
AVNO 31 69 52 86101170253361387567
%IMP-35%-200% 5%-110%-49%-325%-329%-581%-142%-153%
GFNO 0 0 0 10 30 89146215230 299
GFDL 33 52 46 46 67136184293344 392
%IMPund% und% und%-360%-123%-53%-26%-36%-50%-31%
INTENSITY (kt)
MODEL12 h24 h36 h48 h60 h72 h84 h96 h108 h120 h
AVNN-78-66-49-32-30-24-20 1 -1 10
AVNO-62-49-24 -4 0 0 0 27 11 23
%IMP29%26%51%87%100%100%100%-2600%-1000%-130%
GFNO-10 6 12 19 15 5 6 26 17 33
GFDL-14 -7 8 19 12 8 9 26 23 28
%IMP-40%-17%50% 0%20% -60%-50% 0%-35%15%

Landfall forecasts

02/1930 UTC 24.0N 74.5W San Salvador Island, Bahamas 19.5 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN23.8574.73 21.0 28.7San Salvador Island, Bahamas
AVNO24.3674.16 21.0 52.8Near San Salvador Island, Bahamas
%IMP 0% -84%
GFNO23.9374.57 21.0 10.5San Salvador Island, Bahamas
GFDL24.2974.25 22.0 41.0San Salvador Island, Bahamas
%IMP -67%-290%
03/0530 UTC 24.6N 75.6W Northern end of Cat Island, Bahamas 29.5 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN24.3575.52 27.0 28.9Cat Island, Bahamas
AVNO25.2174.24 30.0152.9Offshore Cat Island, Bahamas
%IMP 80%-429%
GFNO24.7475.54 29.5 16.7Northern end of Cat Island, Bahamas
GFDL25.1075.28 29.5 64.2Near northern tip of Cat Island, Bahamas
%IMP 0%-284%
03/1000 UTC 25.1N 76.1W Eleuthera Island, Bahamas 34.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN24.8176.33 32.5 39.7Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
AVNO25.6976.03 37.5 65.9Near northern tip of Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
%IMP-133% -66%
GFNO25.3476.36 36.5 37.3Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
GFDL25.6676.14 35.5 62.3Near northern tip of Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
%IMP 40% -67%
04/1000 UTC 26.6N 78.2W Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas 58.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN26.3078.90 60.0 77.2Near Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
AVNO26.5777.03 53.0116.3Abaco Island, Bahamas
%IMP-150% -51%
GFNO26.7178.41 56.5 24.2Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
GFDL26.8877.98 54.0 38.0Little Abaco Island, Bahamas
%IMP-167% -57%
05/0430 UTC 27.2N 80.2W South end of Hutchinson Island, FL 76.5 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN27.0480.12 74.5 19.5Jupiter, FL
AVNO32.0779.23118.5549.1Near Seabrook Island, SC
%IMP-2000%-2716%
GFNO30.1281.34103.0342.9Palm Valley, FL
GFDL31.8680.76118.5520.5Tybee Island, GA
%IMP -71% -52%
06/1800 UTC 30.1N 84.0W Mouth of Aucilla River, FL 114.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNNNo landfall forecast
AVNONo landfall forecast
%IMP
GFNONo landfall forecast
GFDLNo landfall forecast
%IMP

Figure 1. NCEP 850 - 200 hPa mean wind analysis for 02 September 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 02 September 2004 0000 UTC.

Figure 3. NCEP Global Ensemble Predction System track forecasts for all cyclones in the Atlantic basin initialized from 31 August 2004 0600 UTC to 01 September 2004 0000 UTC, showing the tracks of Hurricane Frances.

Figure 4. Ensemble perturbation variance at the nominal sampling time 02 September 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 02 September 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 02 September 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 02 September 2004 0000 UTC.