Grid configuration: The coarse domain has 93 x 78 points horizontally with a 45 km
grid spacing. The nested domain has 76 x 61 points horizontally, with a 15 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 135 secs, and the fine grid timestep
is 45 secs. Grid configuration
Gridded topography
Gridded land-use
Gridded sea surface temperatures (SST and Great Lakes temperatures are updated weekly in model runs from NCEP analyses. Graph shown may not be latest.)
Grid 1 topography
Grid 1 land use
Grid 1 land/water distribution
Grid 2 topography
Grid 2 land use
Grid 2 land/water distribution
Model configuration: NCAR's MM5v2 version 2.9
Initialization: The model is initialized at 0000 UTC. The 00 hr forecast from the 00 UTC Early Eta run is used as the first-guess. If that is not available by a set time, then the 12 hour forecast from the previous 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 previous AVN run is used as the first-guess. The 0000 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 hr 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: 17 Dec 1998 00 UTC
NCEP model used for first-guess is ETA from 98121700
Tabular site forecasts (Now with point-and-click map, many more locations)
Vertical Cross-Sections
| Location | 00 hour 7 pm EST 981216 | 03 hour 10 pm EST 981216 | 06 hour 1 am EST 981217 | 09 hour 4 am EST 981217 | 12 hour 7 am EST 981217 | 15 hour 10 am EST 981217 | 18 hour 1 pm EST 981217 | 21 hour 4 pm EST 981217 | 24 hour 7 pm EST 981217 | 27 hour 10 pm EST 981217 | 30 hour 1 am EST 981218 | 33 hour 4 am EST 981218 | 36 hour 7 am EST 981218 | 4 panel | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulsa, OK | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 00-36 | Tulsa, OK |
| Springfield, MO | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 00-36 | Springfield, MO |
| Columbia, MO | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 00-36 | Columbia, MO |
Grid 1 Animations: Click on the link to load the animation. The animation will loop until you click on your browser's "stop".
Animation of Grid 1 MSLP
Animation of Grid 1 Sfc Temperature and Winds
Animation of Grid 1 Theta-e
Animation of Grid 1 Vis Sat View
Animation of Grid 1 3-hrly Precip
Animation of Grid 1 Total Precip
3-D Animation of Grid 1 Clouds
3-D Animation of Clouds and Sfc T
Fly-by of 3-D Cloud Animation!
Grid 1 Vertical Cross-Sections
| Location | 00 hour 7 pm EST 981216 | 03 hour 10 pm EST 981216 | 06 hour 1 am EST 981217 | 09 hour 4 am EST 981217 | 12 hour 7 am EST 981217 | 15 hour 10 am EST 981217 | 18 hour 1 pm EST 981217 | 21 hour 4 pm EST 981217 | 24 hour 7 pm EST 981217 | 27 hour 10 pm EST 981217 | 30 hour 1 am EST 981218 | 33 hour 4 am EST 981218 | 36 hour 7 am EST 981218 | 4 panel | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYR,NY | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 00-36 | SYR,NY |
| BUF,NY | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 00-36 | BUF,NY |
| BTV,VT | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 1500Z | 1800Z | 2100Z | 0000Z | 0300Z | 0600Z | 0900Z | 1200Z | 00-36 | BTV,VT |
Grid 2 Animations: Click on the link to load the animation. The animation will loop until you click on your browser's "stop".
Animation of Grid 2 MSLP
Animation of Grid 2 Sfc Temperature and Winds
Animation of Grid 2 Theta-e
Animation of Grid 2 Vis Sat View
Animation of Grid 2 3-hrly Precip
Animation of Grid 2 Total Precip
Animation of Observed Radar Images, 24h, 12/17/12Z-12/18/12Z
Animation of Observed Radar Images, 12h, 12/18/00Z-12/18/12Z
Combined Animation of Forecast 3-hrly Precip and Observed Radar Images
3-D Animation of Grid 2 Clouds
3-D Animation of Clouds and Sfc T
Fly-by of 3-D Cloud Animation!
Grid 2 Vertical Cross-Sections