Operational ensemble cloud model forecasts: Some preliminary results

Abstract

From 15 July through 30 September of 2001, an ensemble cloud-scale model was run for the Storm Prediction Center on a daily basis. Each ensemble run consisted of 78 members whose initial conditions were derived from the 20-km Rapid Update Cycle Model, the 22-km operational Eta Model, and a locally run version of the 22-km Eta Model using the Kain-Fritsch convective parameterization. Each ensemble was run over a 160 km × 160 km region and was valid for the 9-h period from 1630 through 0130 UTC. The ensembles were used primarily to provide severe-weather guidance. To that end, model storms with lifetimes greater than 60 min and/or a sustained correlation of at least 0.5 between midlevel updrafts and positive vorticity (the supercell criterion) were considered to be severe-weather indicators. Heidke skill scores, along with the true skill statistic, are between 0.2 and 0.3 when long-lived storms or storms meeting the supercell criteria are used as severe-weather indicators. Equivalent skill scores result when modeled and observed storms are categorized by lifetime and supercell characteristics and compared with expertly interpreted radar data.