We had our first strong gradient wind event last night since
the RTMA upgrade. I would say the new analysis method of
considering the source of the wind reports has made a remarkable
improvement. This analysis is almost spot on with the METAR wind
speed reports.
But...that's because it tossed virtually every mesonet
report, leaving pretty much only METAR sites.
It appears that many good 2m or 3m site reports were rejected
with a PREP QC error. The BG and OB values look like it should have
accepted it. What does that mean?
We also had some mesonet sites that aren't mounted at 2m and
report good winds. Those good winds got tossed because they well
exceeded what a 2m wind should have been.
Here's one that's actually near 10 m (left) just a couple miles
from a METAR (right).
These good sites will have to all be changed manually, correct?
Is there a way to develop a running list of mesonet sites with a
high wind speed bias nationally? That would make tracking down and
finding the well sighted sites a little easier and we can
investigate if it's a 5m or 10m site. As you can see it's kind of
like finding a needle in a haystack with so many sites - most of
which are sited low or are bad/rejected.
Thanks for your work on getting the low wind speed corrected
and your help with these remaining issues.
Ted
--
Ted Ryan
Science and Operations Officer
National Weather Service Forecast Office
Fort Worth, Texas
817-429-2631 x224
