Effects of Synoptic Surveillance on model forecasts for
17 September 2003 1200 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 9 29 67269677
AVNO 65 43 36192467
%IMP-622%48%46%29%31%
GFNO 38 35 71270608
GFDL 29 43 98255659
%IMP24%-23%-38% 6%-8%
INTENSITY (kt)
MODEL12 h24 h36 h48 h60 h72 h84 h96 h108 h120 h
AVNN-40-40-23 -6 -6
AVNO-11-17 -8-13 -7
%IMP72%57%65%-117%-17%
GFNO 13 9 9 14 23
GFDL 19 9 5 17 20
%IMP-46% 0%44%-21%13%
SHNO 0 1 22 43 43
SHIP 0 -2 17 37 35
%IMP 0%-100%23%14%19%
DSNO 0 1 -6 2 5
DSHP 0 -2-10 1 5
%IMP 0%-100%-133%50% 0%

Landfall forecasts

18/1700 UTC 34.9N 76.2W Drum Inlet, NC 29.0 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN34.9276.21 29.5 2.4Little Port, NC
AVNO35.3276.12 30.0 47.2Ocracoke, NC
%IMP -100% -1867%
GFNO34.8776.26 28.5 6.4Little Port, NC
GFDL34.7976.62 28.5 40.2Beaufort, NC
%IMP 0% -528%

Figure 1. NCEP 850 - 200 hPa mean wind analysis for 17 September 2003 1200 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 17 September 2003 1200 UTC.

Figure 3. Ensemble perturbation variance at the nominal sampling time 17 September 2003 1200 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 17 September 2003 1200 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 17 September 2003 1200 UTC.