A comparison of WDSS storm algorthims [abstract]

Abstract

WDSS, or the Warning Decision Support System is a new nowcasting program that is being field tested at various National Weather Service Forecast Offices, including the one in St. Louis that issues warnings for Columbia. The object of this study is to do a comparison of how WDSS does with various components of a storm, namely storm motion. Another study was done by the student looking at the hail algorithms in WDSS, and how well it detects severe hail, which could also be touched upon. The study was done using various radars from the Kansas and Texas area on June 9, 2005 a particularly dangerous day with many reports of hail and tornados. The study will run the radars though the different algorithms that WDSS has for storm motion and see how well the forecast is using different reflected values for returns.