Coarse (30 km resolution) and nested grid domains (10 km resolution):
Grid configuration: The coarse domain has 71 x 58 points horizontally with a 30 km grid spacing. The nested domain has 52 x 49 points horizontally, with a 10 km grid spacing. Both domains have 25 layers in the vertical, with the model top at 75 mb. Both domains are run for 36 hours. The nested domain land surface characteristics (terrain, land/water, sea surface temperature, land use, soil moisture, snow cover) are all interpolated directly to the nested grid scale; as a result the nested grid has features consistent with that scale and is not just an interpolation from the coarse grid information. The coarse grid timestep is 90 secs, and the fine grid timestep is 30 secs.
Grid 1 configuration
Grid 1 topography
Grid 1 topography (alternate graphic)
Grid 1 land use
Grid 1 land/water distribution
Grid 1 sea surface temperatures
Grid 2 configuration
Grid 2 topography
Grid 2 topography (alternate graphic
Grid 2 land use
Grid 2 land/water distribution
Grid 2 sea surface temperatures
Model configuration: NCAR's MM5v2 version 2.9
Initialization: The model is initialized at 1200 UTC. The latest (1200 UTC) Early Eta run (Eta 211 grid, grid has 80 km data resolution, actual model run has 32 km resolution) is used as the first-guess. If the Eta run is unavailable, the AVN run can be used as the first-guess. The 1200 UTC rawinsonde and surface METAR observations are used to enhance the first-guess using NCAR's MM5 RAWINS package with the multi-quadratic analysis scheme. The Eta (or AVN) forecast fields at 06, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 hrs are used for the lateral boundary conditions. The fine grid surface characteristic fields (terrain, land/water, vegetation, SST) are interpolated to the fine grid directly from the original data. The fine grid initial fields are interpolated directly to the fine grid (not from the coarse grid).
Soil moisture and snow cover: The soil moisture availability is updated during the model run, using the modifications provided by Jim Bresch at NCAR/MMM. The soil moisture availability (SMA) is initialized for each run using the Eta 12 fcst SMA from the previous Eta run (the previous 12Z run). The snow cover (just yes/no, not snow depth) is updated during the model run using the IFSNOW option in the model. The snow cover is initialized from the most recently available NESDIS IMS snow cover analysis.
Current MESO MM5 runs are initialized at: 01-Apr-1999 12 UTC
NCEP model used for first-guess is ETA from 99040112
| Field | 00 hour 5 am MST 990401 | 06 hour 11 am MST 990401 | 12 hour 5 pm MST 990401 | 18 hour 11 pm MST 990401 | 24 hour 5 am MST 990402 | 30 hour 11 am MST 990402 | 36 hour 5 pm MST 990402 | 4 panel | Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snow cvr | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Snow cvr |
| Soil Moisture | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Soil Moisture |
| MSLP/500 Thk | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | MSLP/500 Thk |
| SFC T/Winds | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | SFC T/Winds |
| SFC ThetaE | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | SFC ThetaE |
| SFC Mx Ratio | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | SFC Mx Ratio |
| CAPE | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | CAPE |
| CIN | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | CIN |
| Cloud base HT | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Cloud base HT |
| Vis Sat View | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Vis Sat View |
| 500 Th/6-h Pre | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 500 Thk/6 hr Prc |
| 850 HT/Wind | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 850 HT/Wind |
| 850 T/Mx Ratio | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 850 T/Mx Ratio |
| 850 RH/W | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 850 RH/W |
| 700 RH/W | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 700 RH/W |
| 500 HT/Vort | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 500 HT/Vort |
| 500 Winds | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 500 Winds |
| 300 HT/Vort | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 300 HT/Vort |
| 300 Winds | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 300 Winds |
| 6 hr Precip | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | 6 hr Precip |
| Precip TOTAL | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Precip TOTAL |
| Sf Wnd/3-h Pre | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | SfcWind, 3-hPrcp |
| 4 panel SFC | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 4 panel SFC | |
| 4 panel HTS | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 4 panel HTS | |
| 4 panel CONV | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 4 panel CONV |
| Location | 00 hour 5 am MST 990401 | 06 hour 11 am MST 990401 | 12 hour 5 pm MST 990401 | 18 hour 11 pm MST 990401 | 24 hour 5 am MST 990402 | 30 hour 11 am MST 990402 | 36 hour 5 pm MST 990402 | 4 panel | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Salt Lake City |
| Oklahoma City | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Oklahoma City |
| Dodge City, KS | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 0600Z | 1200Z | 1800Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Dodge City, KS |
Grid 1 Animations: Click on the link to load the animation. Then click on your browser's "reload" button to loop.
Animation of Grid 1 MSLP
Animation of Grid 1 Vis Sat View
Animation of Grid 1 6-hrly Precip
Animation of Grid 1 Total Precip
Animation of Grid 1 Sfc Winds and 6-hrly Precip
3-D Grid 1 Cloud Animation
3-D Grid 1 Cloud and Sfc T Animation
Fly-by of 3-D Grid 1 Cloud Animation!
Grid 1 Vertical Cross-Sections
Grid 1 Tabular Site Forecasts
| Location | 00 hour 5 am MST 990401 | 03 hour 8 am MST 990401 | 06 hour 11 am MST 990401 | 09 hour 2 pm MST 990401 | 12 hour 5 pm MST 990401 | 15 hour 8 pm MST 990401 | 18 hour 11 pm MST 990401 | 21 hour 1 am MST 990402 | 24 hour 5 am MST 990402 | 27 hour 8 am MST 990402 | 30 hour 11 am MST 990402 | 33 hour 2 pm MST 990402 | 36 hour 5 pm MST 990402 | 4 panel | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Intl Arpt | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Denver Intl Arpt |
| Limon, CO | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Limon, CO |
| Colorado Spr | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 00-36 | Colorado Spr |
Grid 2 Animations: Click on the link to load the animation. Then click on your browser's "reload" button to loop.
Animation of Grid 2 MSLP
Animation of Grid 2 Vis Sat View
Animation of Grid 2 3-hrly Precip
Animation of Grid 2 Total Precip
Animation of Grid 2 Sfc Winds and 3-hrly Precip
3-D Grid 2 Cloud Animation
3-D Grid 2 Cloud and Sfc T Animation
Fly-by of 3-D Grid 2 Cloud Animation!
Grid 2 Vertical Cross-Sections
Grid 2 Tabular Site Forecasts
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