1. Introduction to The Hazardous Weather Testbed Norman, Oklahoma

2. What is the Hazardous Weather Testbed? Mission… NOAA’s Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) accelerates the transition of promising new meteorological insights and technologies into advances in forecasting and warning for hazardous mesoscale weather events in the United States.

3. What is the Hazardous Weather Testbed? NSSL and NWS collaboration Combines operations, research. Includes visiting forecaster/scientist program. VORTEX, IHOP, JPOL, etc.

4. Collocates: NSSL, SPC, WFO OUN, WDTB, ROC, and Univ. of Oklahoma Meteorology Units Occupancy Summer 2006 Norman, Oklahoma

5. Two Main Program Areas… The NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed EFP: Emphasizes diagnosis and modeling to forecast mesoscale hazards. EWP: Emphasizes diagnosis and modeling to warn for storm scale hazards.

6. NWC 2 nd Floor

7. NWC 2 nd Floor Hazardous Weather Testbed Area Media room Movable wall (electronic) 16 work areas 2 plasma monitors 2 projectors / screens HWT SPC WFO

8. NWC 2 nd Floor: research-to-operations Stage I: Research at NSSL, elsewhere Stage II: “Alpha” Testing, proof- of-concept, warning ops simulations Stage III: “Beta” Testing

9. Forecasters from throughout the NWS NSSL scientists and software developers WDTB trainers Researchers from other institutions International scientists and forecasters Others… Who will be involved?

10. Why Norman? Can conduct forecast and warning experiments in real-time for any part of the contiguous 48 states: AWIPS / NAWIPS Satellite, Level II radar, numerical models, obs “Warn-on-forecast” storm-scale models Warning Decision Support System – Integrated Information (WDSS-II)

11. Why Norman? Can also expose more people to developmental platforms in real- time: - Phased array radar - Polarimetric radar - CASA radar - 3D lightning mapping array We have a lot of experience with experiments in Norman: - DOPLIGHT (1984-1987) - Norman Experimental Forecast Facility (1987-1993) - Warning Decision Support System (WDSS) (1993-1999) - WDSS-II (2002-present) - NSSL – SPC Spring Programs - Joint Polarization Experiment (JPOLE) (2002-2003)

12. Component of the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed WFO-scale collaboration among forecasters, researchers and trainers 0-2 hour hazardous weather forecast & warning projects for nation Emphasis on convective weather Joint initiative of the NWS and the NSSL What is the Experimental Warning Program?

13. Analogous to SPC/NSSL spring program Forecasters can provide early feedback on latest research tools and ideas For ideas not yet mature enough for operational beta testing What is the Experimental Warning Program?

14. Goals Develop new warning guidance tools from multiple sensors and numerical Cloud-scale models (“warn-on-forecast”) Develop new warning techniques (probabilistic warnings) Develop improved verification techniques / climate record Develop GIS-based applications Develop new visualization techniques

15. Early EWP Experiments Probabilistic warnings AWIPS four-dimensional stormcell investigator (FSI) WxGIS High-resolution gridded hail product verification New platforms: 3D lightning, dual-pol radar

16. Warn-On-Forecast Currently issue warnings based on reports of severe events or detections of features strongly associated with severe weather Want to issue warnings with longer lead times based on forecast storm morphology Example: Current non-severe thunderstorm is strengthening and will encounter a pre-existing diffuse boundary, ingesting sufficient horizontal vorticity into the updraft to increase the tornado probability in 50-90 minutes, after which time it will move deep enough into the cold air to end the tornado threat. Will eventually be driven by storm-scale models Will test these concepts in EWP without having to interrupt real-time operations at WFOs.

17. Questions?