MetService’s Investment in Forecasting

[tunster]

http://blog.metservice.com/2011/04/mets ... recasting/

[Manukau heads obs]

neat stuff going on:

* A study of the climatology of cold-season convection in New Zealand, demonstrating that the occurrence of tornados in New Zealand is primarily related to convection along strong cold fronts, rather than the large convective systems (referred to as meso-cyclones or supercells) that produce much of the tornado activity in other parts of the world. MetService is developing a set of forecast parameters and associated tools for tornado forecasting, which will be integrated into its severe thunderstorm forecasting programme.
* Research into the influence of latent heat associated with melting snowflakes on the development of snowstorms on the South Island – Canterbury in particular. Referred to as “melting-effect storms”, these have specific characteristics that distinguish them from other snow events. MetService has developed a set of techniques to assist with identifying and forecasting these events, which tend to be poorly handled by numerical models.
* The development of accurate rainfall accumulation analyses based on radar measurements, using rain gauge data to statistically correct for errors in raw radar data. Initial trials have been promising and MetService expects this to lead to the ability to provide reasonably accurate, gridded rainfall estimates in near-real-time.

[NZstorm]

A study of the climatology of cold-season convection in New Zealand, demonstrating that the occurrence of tornados in New Zealand is primarily related to convection along strong cold fronts, rather than the large convective systems (referred to as meso-cyclones or supercells) that produce much of the tornado activity in other parts of the world.

NZ tornadoes are produced by mesocyclones but we don't get the instability for proper supercell thunderstorms.