Effects of Synoptic Surveillance on model forecasts for
15 September 2003 0000 UTC
Isabel.


Quicktime movie of GFS 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 37 40 68121227308411485619866
AVNO 30 42 30121156211250338379534
%IMP19%-5%56% 0%31%31%39%30%39%38%
GFNO 46 68 67 91124167259211230160
GFDL 37 59 78 80111156244214272215
%IMP20%13%-16%12%10% 7% 6%-1%-18%-34%
INTENSITY (kt)
MODEL12 h24 h36 h48 h60 h72 h84 h96 h108 h120 h
AVNN-73-54-46-41-36-36-30 0 24 10
AVNO-42-37-29-17-16 -7-12 13 17 -1
%IMP42%31%37%59%56%81%60%und%29%90%
GFNO -7 2 3 1 -2 0 1 4 31 26
GFDL-20 0 3 3 8 7 5 14 31 28
%IMP-186%100% 0%-200%-300%und%-400%-250% 0%-8%
SHNO 11 27 27 19 15 1-14 -2 22 31
SHIP 10 22 27 17 13 0-12 0 21 26
%IMP 9%19% 0%11%13%100%14%100% 5%16%
DSNO 11 23 27 19 15 1-14-23 -4 3
DSHP 10 22 27 17 13 0-12-19 -3 4
%IMP 9%19% 0%11%13%100%14%17%25%-33%

Landfall forecasts

18/1700 UTC 34.9N 76.2W Drum Inlet, NC 89.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN37.9175.74111.5336.9Chincoteague, VA
AVNO37.4975.77103.5290.3Broadwater, VA
%IMP 36% 14%
GFNO36.1175.80 84.5139.2Kill Devil Hills, NC
GFDL36.7775.92 88.0209.3Virginia Beach, VA
%IMP 78% -50%

Figure 1. NCEP 850 - 200 hPa mean wind analysis for 15 September 2003 0000 UTC (Hurricane Isabel).

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 15 September 2003 0000 UTC.

Figure 3. Ensemble perturbation variance at the nominal sampling time 15 September 2003 0000 UTC from the previous day NCEP ensemble forecast. The circles represent the dropwindsonde locations.

Figure 4. Initial condition differences in the 850 - 200 hPa mean wind between the no and all dropwindsonde cases for 15 September 2003 0000 UTC. The circles represent the dropwindsonde locations.

Figure 5. 12-h forecast differences in the 850 - 200 hPa mean wind between the no and all dropwindsonde cases for 15 September 2003 0000 UTC.