TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE ??-??

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC

??? PM EDT ??? ??? ?? 2007

 

TO:       FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER

          WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS

          WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/SUBSCRIBERS...

          OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND 

          PARTNERS...NWS EMPLOYEES

 

FROM:     PAUL HIRSCHBERG

          CHIEF...SCIENCE PLANS BRANCH

          OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY /OST/

 

SUBJECT:  UPGRADE TO HIRES WINDOW /HIRESW/ MODEL

 

EFFECTIVE TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11 2007...WITH THE 1200 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME /UTC/ RUN...THE NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION /NCEP/ WILL UPGRADE THE ENVIRONEMENTAL MODELING CENTER /EMC/ HIRESW MODEL. 

 

CURRENTLY…NCEP IS PRODUCING OPERATIONAL RUNS OF THE WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECAST /WRF/ VERSIONS OF THE NON-HYDROSTATIC HYBRID VERTICAL COORDINATE MESOSCALE MODEL /NMM/ AND THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH /NCAR/ ADVANCED RESEARCH WRF /ARW/.  THESE RUNS ARE MADE OVER 6 DOMAINS OVER THE UNITED STATES AND PUERTO RICO AND ARE NESTED INSIDE OF THE PARENT NORTH AMERICAN MESO MODEL /NAM/…OBTAINING INITIAL AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FROM THE NAM.  BELOW IS THE CURRENT SCHEDULE AND THE ASSOCIATED DOMAINS:

 

0000 UTC: ALASKA AND HAWAII

0600 UTC: WESTERN UNITED STATES /US/ AND PUERTO RICO

1200 UTC: CENTRAL US AND HAWAII

1800 UTC: EASTERN US AND PUERTO RICO

 

SEE THE LINK BELOW FOR A DISPLAY OF THE AREAL COVERAGE OF EACH REGIONAL HIRES WINDOW /USE LOWERCASE/:

 

HTTP://WWW.EMC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/MMB/MMBPLL/NESTPAGE/OVERLAYS.WRFNMM.JPG

 

CURRENTLY THE HIRESW RUNS WILL BE CANCELLED ON THE NCEP OPERATIONAL SUPER COMPUTER WHEN HURRICANE MODELS ARE RUNNING DURING THE TROPICAL SEASON…BUT ARE RUN ON THE DEVELOPMENT SUPER COMPUTER WHEN RESOURCES PERMIT. 

 

UPCOMING CHANGES...THE CHANGES LISTED BELOW WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE MODEL ON THE EFFECTIVE CHANGE DATE.

 

THE HIRESW WILL BE RUN AT FINER GRID SPACING USING UPDATED VERSIONS OF THE CONSTITUENT FORECAST MODELS.  THE GRID SPACING OF THE HIRESW WILL CHANGE FROM 5.15 KM TO 4.0 KM FOR THE WRF VERSION OF THE NMM AND FROM 5.8 KM TO 5.15 KM FOR THE ARW MODEL. ADDITIONALLY, BOTH MODELS WILL BE UPGRADED FROM VERSION 1.3 TO VERSION 2.2 OF THE WRF SOFTWARE.

 

GRIB OUTPUT PRODUCTS WILL CHANGE FROM 8 KM TO 5 KM GRID SPACING FOR ALL DOMAINS OTHER THAN THE ALASKAN WINDOW…WHERE THE GRID SPACING WILL CHANGE FROM 10 KM TO 5 KM.  THE REGIONS COVERED BY THE ALASKAN…WEST AND EAST WINDOWS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED.  THE CENTRAL WINDOW IS ELIMINATED, AS THIS REGION IS WELL COVERED BY THE EXPANDED WEST AND EAST WINDOWS.

 

THE REVISED RUN SCHEDULE FOR THE NEW FIVE WINDOW CONFIGURATION IS:

 

0000 UTC: EASTERN US AND HAWAII

0600 UTC: WESTERN US AND PUERTO RICO

1200 UTC: EASTERN US AND HAWAII

1800 UTC: ALASKA AND PUERTO RICO

 

THE INITIALIZATION PACKAGE IS CHANGED FROM THE WRF STANDARD INITIALIZATION /WRFSI/ TO THE WRF PREPROCESSING SYSTEM /WPS/. 

 

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING THESE CHANGES...PLEASE CONTACT:

 

GEOFF DIMEGO

NCEP...MESOSCALE MODELING BRANCH

CAMP SPRINGS MARYLAND

PHONE: 301 763 8000 X7221

EMAIL: GEOFF.DIMEGO@NOAA.GOV

 

OR

 

MATTHEW PYLE

NCEP...MESOSCALE MODELING BRANCH

CAMP SPRINGS MARYLAND

PHONE: 301 763 8000 X7242

EMAIL: MATTHEW.PYLE@NOAA.GOV

 

OR

 

JOE CARR

NCEP...PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BRANCH

CAMP SPRINGS MARYLAND

PHONE: 301 763 8000 X7709

EMAIL: JOE.CARR@NOAA.GOV

 

THIS AND OTHER NWS TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:

 

HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM