Effects of Synoptic Surveillance on model forecasts for
16 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 10 39 92117134288504916
AVNO 22 50 89 97 86184387755
%IMP-120%-28% 3%17%36%36%23%18%
GFNO 10 23 56 86149171260644
GFDL 35 56 73104172218304723
%IMP-250%-143%-30%-21%-15%-27%-17%-12%
INTENSITY (kt)
MODEL12 h24 h36 h48 h60 h72 h84 h96 h108 h120 h
AVNN-46-41-37-32-32 -4 8 2
AVNO-20-11-17-10-14 2 5 -1
%IMP57%74%54%69%56%50%38%50%
GFNO 1 5 6 2 4 -6 14 31
GFDL 14 7 13 9 0 -3 10 24
%IMP-1300%40%-117%-350%100%50%29%23%
SHNO 11 11 15 9 2 15 35 34
SHIP 12 11 16 11 3 16 33 30
%IMP-9% 0%-7%-22%-50%-7% 6%12%
DSNO 11 11 15 9 2-14 0 4
DSHP 12 11 16 11 3 -7 2 5
%IMP-9% 0%-7%-22%-50%50%und%-25%

Landfall forecasts

18/1700 UTC 34.9N 76.2W Drum Inlet, NC 65.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN34.7276.86 74.5 63.4Emerald Isle, NC
AVNO34.9476.27 70.0 7.8Little Port, NC
%IMP 47% 88%
GFNO34.6777.41 63.0113.3Sneads Ferru, NC
GFDL34.4577.61 62.5138.2Topsail Beach, NC
%IMP -25% -22%

Figure 1. NCEP 850 - 200 hPa mean wind analysis for 16 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 16 September 2003 0000 UTC.

Figure 3. Ensemble perturbation variance at the nominal sampling time 16 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 16 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 16 September 2003 0000 UTC.