Effects of Synoptic Surveillance on model forecasts for
20 September 2005 1800 UTC
Rita.


Quicktime movie of AVN DLM wind model forecast< /a>
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 24 15 82143215327401490519610
AVNO 24 33 38 97168222267333400519
%IMP 0%-120%54%32%22%32%33%32%23%15%
GFNO 49 32 49 87131175218291344450
GFDL 22 45 20 61123181244363470621
%IMP55%-41%59%30% 6%-3%-12%-25%-37%-38%
INTENSITY (kt)
MODEL12 h24 h36 h48 h60 h72 h84 h96 h108 h120 h
AVNN-71-103-110-79-64-57-44 17 39 9
AVNO-53 -94-100-65-51-38-20 34 25 7
%IMP25% 9% 9%18%20%33%55%-100%52%22%
GFNO-21-47-51-24-18-14-10 29 8 4
GFDL -4-35-48-18-12-12 -9 13 -1 6
%IMP81%26% 6%25%33%14%10%55%87%-50%

Landfall forecasts

24/0730 UTC 29.7N 93.7W between Johnson's Bayou, LA, and Sabine Pass 85.5 h into the forecast
MODELLATLONTIMEERRORLOCATION
AVNN 29.1195.08107.5148.8Galveston, TX
AVNO29.5594.43103.0 72.4Galveston, TX
%IMP 20% 51%
GFNO28.7795.68 90.5218.0Freeport, TX
GFDL28.6196.19 87.5270.2Matagorda, TX
%IMP 60% -24%

Figure 1. NCEP 850 - 200 hPa mean wind analysis for 20 September 2005 1800 UTC (Hurricane Rita).

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 20 September 2005 1800 UTC.

Figure 3. Initial condition differences in the 850 - 200 hPa mean wind between the no and all dropwindsonde cases for 20 September 2005 1800 UTC.

Figure 4. 12-h forecast differences in the 850 - 200 hPa mean wind between the no and all dropwindsonde cases for 20 September 2005 1800 UTC.