I don't know what others think, but in the period leading up to
yesterdays rain/snow event across Britain, I was keeping a close eye on
the GFS precipitation *type* output available on the W3.de site
(http://www2.wetter3.de/). [ You can also see these via the
Wetterzentrale and Westwind portals ].

I thought that this model gave a good account of itself from several
days before the event. I remember looking on the 16th (two days before
the event) and the model in my view gave a very workmanlike idea of the
main risk area (for snow vs. rain).
What I did notice though, and this applied last winter too, was that the
*amounts* of snow were a _little_ overdone, but as I assume that the
fields here simply output amounts that would accumulate on a dry, frozen
surface, again the figures were of the right order of things. Given the
resolution limitations (both model and presentation), the forecast was
highly useful.

On a more general note, this event also led me to explore the above site
(http://www2.wetter3.de/) much more thoroughly: the wealth of
information is quite amazing. For example, under the link ...

"Profi-Wetterkarten"
(Professional weather charts?)
you can set the last 4 runs of the GFS (and also see output for the GME
(DWD) model).

The display can be either an animation (Animationstool), and further
choose either the standard charts (Standardkarten)
or those charts, with a cross-section along 50North (Vertikalschnitte)

OR
particularly useful for a quick-overview, you can scroll the charts via
the "Scrollen" option, setting the run time (default = latest), in two
resolutions, and with various options (at the bottom) for display, 3, 6
or all on a page).

On the left-hand navigation panel, there is also a category for
"Fax-Karten" (FAX charts), and there a generous array of output from
various centres can be viewed - again easily chosen fields. I
particularly like the chart of 300hPa for the entire Northern
Hemisphere - with plotted winds! (00Ana300hPa-NH)
Also, a goodly selection of mslp analysis charts, again some for the
entire Hemisphere.

All in all, a very good effort IMO.

There is some information on the output at the following sub-page of the
FAQ:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.w...dels/sites.htm
--
FAQ & Glossary for uk.sci.weather at:-
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/uswfaqfr.htm

"Martin Rowley" wrote in
message ...
I don't know what others think, but in the period leading up to
yesterdays rain/snow event across Britain, I was keeping a close eye on
the GFS precipitation *type* output available on the W3.de site
(http://www2.wetter3.de/). [ You can also see these via the
Wetterzentrale and Westwind portals ].

snip
.... and it will be interesting to see how it handles tomorrow's events:
again, the GFS has consistently shown a snow phase for us (though no
great amount)

http://www2.wetter3.de/GFS_00_UTC/gfs_30-36_30.gif

Martin.


--
Martin Rowley: data via -
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/metindex.htm
Bracknell (Wooden Hill/Tawfield), Berkshire
NGR: SU 854 667 Elev: 80m
Lat: 51DEG23MIN30SEC(N): Long: 00DEG46MIN28SEC(W)

Thanks for reminding us of that excellent site, Martin. What a wealth of
information. I too have been quite impressed by the GFS model of late. It
seems pretty rare for it to go far wrong.


--
Bernard Burton
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.

Satellite images at:
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html
"Martin Rowley" wrote in message
...

"Martin Rowley" wrote in
message ...
I don't know what others think, but in the period leading up to
yesterdays rain/snow event across Britain, I was keeping a close eye on
the GFS precipitation *type* output available on the W3.de site
(http://www2.wetter3.de/). [ You can also see these via the
Wetterzentrale and Westwind portals ].

snip
... and it will be interesting to see how it handles tomorrow's events:
again, the GFS has consistently shown a snow phase for us (though no
great amount)

http://www2.wetter3.de/GFS_00_UTC/gfs_30-36_30.gif

Martin.


--
Martin Rowley: data via -
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/metindex.htm
Bracknell (Wooden Hill/Tawfield), Berkshire
NGR: SU 854 667 Elev: 80m
Lat: 51DEG23MIN30SEC(N): Long: 00DEG46MIN28SEC(W)

Martin Rowley wrote in message ...

:On a more general note, this event also led me to explore the above site
http://www2.wetter3.de/) much more thoroughly: the wealth of
:information is quite amazing.

The site claims that it offers more than 26 000 charts each day.

:"Profi-Wetterkarten"
Professional weather charts?)

Yes - in the sense that they are aimed at professionals, I suppose.

:The display can be either an animation (Animationstool), and further
:choose either the standard charts (Standardkarten)
:OR ... you can scroll the charts via the "Scrollen" option
:On the left-hand navigation panel, there is also a category for
:"Fax-Karten" (FAX charts)

German is not as hard as some people think, is it ? ;-)

Colin Youngs
Brussels