Log of Changes to Pacific Northwest WRF/MM5 Numerical Forecasts

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4/15/2008
WRF replaces MM5 as operational model

Beginning with the 2008041500 run we switched from MM5 version 3-7-3
to WRF-ARW version 2.2.1 as the operational forecast model.
Highlights of this upgrade are:
* expanded 12-km and 4-km domains
* backported the YSU PBL scheme from version 3.0 into 2.2.1

1/3/2008

Beginning with the 2008010412 run, the WRF-GFS is using a 216-second
time step (6*dx) for the 36-km run instead of a 180-second time
step. Tests have shown this to be stable, but daily runs will need
to be performed to give it a full test. Should CFL conditions arise
and the model become unstable, we will return to the more costly
180-second time step.

8/16/2006

Beginning with the 2006081600 run, the MM5-GFS is using the Thompson
microphysics scheme of 20 June 2006. The CCM2 radiation scheme has
default settings for cloud ice effective radius of 35 micrometers and
cloud liquid effective radius of 10 micrometers. A change in
getdat.F is made for the CCM2 that includes the radiative properties
of snow along with cloud ice.

CIMR(N,NLL)=(QI3D(NLIM,JSLC,NLL)+QNI3D(NLIM,JSLC,NLL)) 09JUN06.1
+ *1000. 05DEC01.1355

Beginning with the 2006081512 run, the WRF-GFS is using the Thompson
microphysics scheme of 11 August 2006.

7/18/2006

Beginning with the 2006071812 run, the MM5-NAM (formerly MM5-ETA) is
using MM5 version 3-6-3 (old was 3-5-4).

6/8/2006

Beginning with the 2006060900 run we switched from using the Thompson
microphysics scheme to the Reisner2 scheme. We have noted a high
temperature bias and have discovered that precipitating clouds allow
too much solar radiation to reach the surface in the Thompson
scheme. We will continue to investigate this and hope to be able to
use the scheme when this issue has been resolved.

5/15/2006

Beginning with the 2006051512 run we switched from MM5 version 3-6-3
to 3-7-3 using the latest Greg Thompson microphysics scheme. No
changes in domain configuration have been made, so end-users should
not need to make any modifications. Highlights of this upgrade are:
* Changed from old Reisner2 microphysics which produced too much
ice at high levels to the new Greg Thompson scheme.
* Changed LANDUSE.TBL to match the one used in WRF.
This new LANDUSE.TBL reduces the albedos for some categories slightly,
which will result in slightly warmer daytime temperatures.
* Changed MRF planetary boundary layer routines:
1) Changed the computation of RLAM to be a function of delta-z.
2) Instead of imposed parabolic mixing coeff profile in BL, use
the max of that AND the value computed from local K-theory
(the latter will increase mixing in cloud-topped BLs).
* Bug fixes to Noah LSM scheme -- note, we do not yet use this
scheme, but intend to run tests to see if this scheme produces
better results than the current 5-layer soil model.
* Preprocessing has upgraded from NCAR 3-6 to 3-7 versions.

Beginning with the 2006051512 run, we implemented the 13 May 2006
changes to the WRF version of the Thompson microphysics scheme.
Results should now be consistent with the MM5 version.

5/9/2006

Updated WRF runs to version 2.1.2 with latest Thompson microphysics
modifications. Previous runs had abnormally high precipitation in
areas where frozen hydrometeors reached the ground.

4/21/2006

Had to update the PREGRID Vtable file for the OTIS SST fields since
the level code changed from 1 to 0 with the 2006042012 file. Now
using '*' instead of '1'.

4/1/2006

Updated WRF runs to version 2.1.2 with Thompson microphysics and added
several PBL output variables to the output files. First run with
these changes is the 2006040100 run.

3/21/2006

Made sounding generator available online to all users.

2/6/2006

Beginning with the 2006020600 run, the MM5-ETA graphics have been
aligned with the MM5-GFS. NOTE: the MM5-ETA is still running on a
slightly smaller 12-km domain (the aug02 domain) and is still not
running the same physics packages.

4/5/2005

Beginning with the 2005040600 run, the MM5-GFS will be upgraded from
the Intel FORTRAN compiler version 7.0 to version 8.1. The overall
speed-up is significant:
Intel 7.0 Intel 8.1
Compiler Compiler
Domains Run Time Run Time Savings
------- ---------- ----------- --------
d1d2 1:15:49 1:03:21 0:12:28 (16.5%)
d3 3:51:15 2:57:27 0:53:48 (23.3%)

Total 1:06:16 (21.6%)

2/4/2005

Added WRF-GFS runs to 48 hours with limited graphics.

1/12/2005

Added run-independent links to all single-image display pages.

1/6/2005

Beginning with the 2005010612 forecast, the snow cover initialization
is turned back on, thanks to our code modifications to the MM5 that
allow IFSNOW=1 to work with IMOIAV=2.

11/2/2004

Added additional Puget Sound area soundings, timeheights, and
meteograms to the MM5-GFS page by giving the user a choice of two map
options.

10/29/2004

Added Mt. St. Helens trajectories.

10/8/2004

Updated the look of the MM5-GFS, MM5-ETA, and MM5-GFS Air Quality
pages to include groupings by color, vertical level, and/or product
type.

8/19/2004

Beginning with the 2004081900 forecast, the MM5-GFS is using the
Bucket Soil Moisture Model and is using the 20-km RUC grids to
initialize the soil moisture. For a comparison of the 2-m
temperatures see this.

8/10/2004

Updated the main home page for our MM5 to better reflect the whole
project and to improve overall look.

8/4/2004

Beginning with the 2004080500 forecast, the 4-km run of the MM5-GFS
has the Kain-Fritsch cumulus parameterization turned on. Recent work
has shown that this is a good idea and that it will help rectify the
discrepancy between convection in the 12-km domain and that in the
4-km domain. For a comparison of runs made with and without the K-F
scheme turned on for the 4-km domain, see this
link. The addition of this cumulus scheme to the 4-km domain
will increase runtime by only 3 minutes.

6/3/2004

Beginning with the 2004060400 forecast the CCM2 effective ice radius
has been changed from 40 microns to 35.

6/3/2004

Beginning with the 2004060212 forecast, rerun on the 3rd, we are now
running MM5-GFS with the following changes:
* The MPI-implementation of the CCM2 modification -- where the
effective ice radius of radcsw.F is changed from 14.6 microns to
40 microns -- has been corrected. All previous forecasts from
2004051800 through 2004060200 used the 40 micron value on
only 2 of the 36 processors and the 14.6 standard value on all
other processors.
This loop shows the dramatic difference in the
amount of radiation reaching the surface due to the presence
of thin, high clouds.

5/19/2004

Beginning with the 2004051900 forecast, the MM5-GFS GEMPAK files are
now calculated at cross points, not dot points. Comparisons with
MMOUT files are much easier.

5/17/2004

Beginning with the 2004051800 forecast we are now running MM5-GFS with
the following changes:
* Radiation scheme is now CCM2 with a slight modification -- the
effective ice radius of radcsw.F is changed from 14.6 microns to
40 microns.
* Reisner 2 is now used without skipping, since this has been shown
to adversely affect temperature forecasts beyond 24 hours.

3/19/2004

We are now placing the MM5 trajectories into
ftp://ftp.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/trajectory
They remain there for 4 days before being purged.
There are trajectory files for both d2 and d3. They are 12 hour
backward trajectories from forecast hour 18 back to forecast hour 6.
They are released at sigma level .98 (at hour 18) which corresponds to
a height above ground of about 125 meters. The trajectories have numeric
IDs starting with 1. The riptraj.titles file gives the numeric
ID in column one along with lat, lon, elev, and name of each trajectory
starting location. Elev is the actual point elevation of each site,
not the MM5 grid box elevation, which of course, is what the trajectories
use.

2/9/2004

Beginning with the 2004020912 run we turned off the old aug02 run and
made the dec03 setup the official, real-time run. The key aspects of
this change are as follows:
* Expanded 4-km domain now covers all of Idaho.
4 km terrain and land use.
* Slightly expanded 12-km domain.
12 km terrain and land use.
* MM5 version 3-6-2
* Using Intel Fortran Compiler version 7.1 with compiler flags
FCFLAGS = -O2 -ip -axW -tpp7 -rcd
* Continuing to use MPICH version 1.2.4
since the latest version 1.2.5.2 does not maintain the process
group of the executables launched by mpirun. Maintaining process
groups is essential for our job_control system.
* utilizing the dual-Xeon Beowolf cluster known as sage
* Reisner 2 microphysics on all domains (old was simple ice) this
has a significant computational impact -- 47% slow-down on the
4-km domain
* RRTM longwave radiation scheme (old was FRAD=2 cloud radiation
scheme)

12/17/2003

Beginning with the 2003121700 run we:
* turned on Reisner 2 microphysics for the dec03 (a.k.a testrt)
* turned on RRTM longwave radiation scheme for the dec03 (a.k.a testrt)

12/15/2003

Beginning with the 2003121512 run, we began running a new,
expanded MM5-GFS on the sage, dual-Xeon Beowolf cluster in a test
mode, but on a regular basis. This is known as the dec03
configuration (currently also known as the testrt run). Its key
components are as follows:
* Expanded 4-km domain now covers all of Idaho.
4 km terrain and land use.
* Slightly expanded 12-km domain.
12 km terrain and land use.
* MM5 version 3-6-2
* The old, aug02 configuration is still being run and placed in the
default locations for the MM5-GFS run.
* The new, dec03/testrt run is accessible over the Web at http://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/testrt.html
* Using Intel Fortran Compiler version 7.1 with compiler flags
FCFLAGS = -O2 -ip -axW -tpp7 -rcd
* Continuing to use MPICH version 1.2.4
since the latest version 1.2.5.2 does not maintain the process
group of the executables launched by mpirun. Maintaining process
groups is essential for our job_control system.
* Experimenting with Reisner 2 and RRTM schemes.

8/27/2003

Beginning with the 2003082712 run, the NetCDF files sent to WRH are
chopped down to fewer fields and levels.

8/14/2003

Beginning with 2003081500 run, TAPFRQ, BUFFRQ, INCTAP are now set as
follows for the 36/12-km runs:
TAPFRQ = 60.,
BUFFRQ = 60.,
INCTAP = 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
which is a change from the old
TAPFRQ = 15.,
BUFFRQ = 15.,
INCTAP = 4,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
Turns out that the 12-km grids do not match up bit-for-bit after
the first hour with this change -- something MMM is looking into.
The 15-minute files are obsolete.

7/29/2003

Updated mm52ncdf.exe code that generates Netcdf files for NWS to use
2-m temperatures and mixing ratios, and 10-m winds for the surface
fields.

6/11/2003

For just the 2003061112 forecast, we were unable to obtain ETA 221 grids
for initialization. As such, MM5-ETA and MM5-GFS used surface
temperatures, soil moisture, soil temperatures (the deep soil
reservoir temperature), and snow cover from the ETA 104 and GFS
1-degree grids respectively.

3/14, 3/17/2003

Moved many ventilation, air-quality, pbl height graphics to a new Web
page. Turned back on hourly graphics generation for 12-km domain
starting with 2003031712 run.

2/12/2003

Fixed a bug in GEMPAK files that corrupted all precipitation amounts
since 2003020312 switchover. NOTE: this does not affect the RIP
graphics displayed on Web or standard verification files.
Fixed a bug that was not incorporating the short 1-minute time step
values for the 4-km domain. This bug meant that fields such as
10-meter wind and 2-m temperatures were 0 at hour 6, the initial hour.

2/4/2003

We have scaled back on graphics generation -- previously we were
producing 5952 plots per forecast run! As of the 2003020500 run, we
are only producing graphics for the 12-km domain every 3 hours of
forecast time.

2/3/2003

Beginning with the 2003020312 forecast, we have made two key changes to
the MM5-GFS forecast.
1) the outer, 36-km domain, is now nudged toward the GFS solution
every 3 hours using the following criteria:
* 3-hourly 3D analysis nudging is applied (no surface analysis nudging)
* 3D (not surface) wind field nudged at 1.E-4
* 3D (not surface) temperature field nudged at 1.E-4
* 3D (not surface) mixing ratio field nudged at 1.E-4
* Boundary layer nudging is on for wind but not temperature or
mixing ratio.
2) the 36-km and 12-km domains are split off from the 4-km
domain and run first.
3) the 4-km domain begins at hour 6 instead of hour 0 and uses
1-hour 12-km domain files for initial and boundary conditions
as processed by NESTDOWN.

10/5/2002

Beginning with 2002100500 forecast, now running MM5 on Linux cluster
using a local, non-RAID IDE drive. Files are moved to RAID array
during the run, but this allows for an approximate 10 minute earlier
completion of the model run.

9/30/2002

Due to demands on the web server at U. of W., forced to change the
policy for storing old forecast data on the Web from 21 days to 14 days.

9/12/2002

Beginning with the 2002091200 forecast, the real-time is now beginning
the 4 km domain at hour 0 and running it simultaneously with the
outer grids. This change was made because a 36/12 km simulation
presents the following logistical problems: 1) we have are not receiving
the GFS grids (for boundary conditions) fast enough to keep up, and
2) we cannot postprocess (create graphics) fast enough to keep up --
we had to throttle the 12-km graphics. Overall runtimes for the two
methods are as follows:
36 and 12 (IDEALIZED) 1:25
36 and 12 (realized) 2:25 (model must wait for grids to arrive)
4 km alone 2:25
36/12 run plus a 4 km run 4:50
36/12/4 simultaneous 4:25

9/9/2002

Beginning with the 12Z forecast on Monday 9 September 2002,
2002090912, we began utilizing the new Athlon Beowolf cluster for
forecasting. Changes are:
* Expanded 4-km grid farther into Idaho.
4 km terrain and land use.
* Extended length of runs:
: 4 km domain forecasts from hours 9 to 48 (old was 12 to 36).
: 36/12 km domains out to 72 hours (up from 60).
* Initialization of most fields from NCEP's GFS (formerly known as
the AVN) at 1-degree resolution. The 36-km and 12-km domains
continue to be initialized with surface temperature, soil
temperature, soil moisture, and snow cover using the higher
resolution ETA 221 grids (roughly 40-km resolution).
* Continue a 36/12 km domain run using only ETA 221 grids for
initialization and ETA 104 grids for boundary conditions. This
MM5-ETA is run on the old Sun E6500 and is identical to the
previous real-time with the exception of the discontinuation of the
cloud water initialization. A separate Web page has been
established for this here.
* Switch to version 3.5 of the MM5 with MPP instead of OpenMP for
the GFS run
* discontinuation of cloud-water initialization
More details can be found here.

8/30/2002
8/29/2002

Reverted back to jun01 MM5 setup, rerunning 2002082912 to 2002083012
cases in old configuration. New configuration will continue as
a test until issues related to grid projection can be resolved with
all dependent software.
With 2002082912 run, BEGAN TESTING A NEW MODELING SYSTEM with:
* 108-km grid and expanded 4-km grid.
All domains
4 km terrain and land use.
* Extended length of runs:
: 4 km domain forecasts from hours 9 to 48 (old was 12 to 36).
: 108/36/12 km domains out to 72 hours (up from 60).
* Initialization of most fields from NCEP's GFS (formerly known as
the AVN) at 1-degree resolution. The 36-km and 12-km domains
continue to be initialized with surface temperature, soil
temperature, soil moisture, and snow cover using the higher
resolution ETA 221 grids (roughly 40-km resolution).
* Continue a 36/12 km domain run using only ETA 221 grids as a
backup or "Quick Look" run.
* switch to version 3.5 of the MM5 with MPP instead of OpenMP for
the GFS run
* discontinuation of cloud-water initialization

4/9/2002

Beginning with 2002040900, began running a test ensemble member,
avn-lkb, with a modified surface scheme for MRF initialized with
AVN.
Beginning with 2002041000, OUTPSIM, OUTPSIH, OUTBR, OUTWSCALE,
OUTHGAMT, OUTHGAMQ, and MOL now have correct values for 36-km
domain. From 2002031112 through 2002040912 the 36-km domain had
12-km domain values inserted. Click here
to see the comparisons of the OUTBR (Bulk Richardson number).

4/1/2002

With the 2002040100 run, we now initialize MM5 snow cover with the
water-equivalent snow depth field obtained from the ETA 221 grids.
The old source was the USAF snow cover data obtained from
ftp.ncep.noaa.gov in directory /pub/gcp/sfcflds/oper/live/. Serious
problems were evident with these data for several days and example
plots and further information is available here.

3/11/2002

With 2002031112 run, added the following fields to MM5 output files
with no effects on results.

Name Alt. Name Units Description
OUTPSIM PSI_M DIMENSIONLESS STABILITY PARAMETER FOR MOMENTUM
OUTPSIH PSI_H DIMENSIONLESS STABILITY PARAMETER FOR HEAT
OUTBR BR DIMENSIONLESS BULK RICHARDSON NUMBER
OUTWSCALE W_SCALE M**2 / S**2 MIXED-LAYER VELOCITY SCALE
OUTHGAMT GAMMA_T S**(-1) COUNTER-GRADIENT TERM FOR HEAT
OUTHGAMQ GAMMA_Q M**(-1) COUNTER-GRADIENT TERM FOR MOISTURE
MOL T_STAR Kelvin MIXED-LAYER TEMPERATURE SCALE
MAXWSP10 M/S MAXIMUM 10-meter windspeed
The last occurrence of the
maximum single timestep 10-m
wind speeds occurring in the
hour prior to the reported
hour.
MAXWDIR10 DEGREES Corresponding grid-relative
wind direction for MAXWSP10.
MAXT2 Kelvin Maximum single timestep 2-m
temperature occurring in the
last hour.
MINT2 Kelvin Minimum single timestep 2-m
temperature occurring in the
last hour.

1/24/2002

With 2002012412 forecasts, began using Workshop 7 f90 and Guide 4.0
under Solaris -- previously using Workshop 6 (non-updated) f77 and
Guide 3.8. Comparisons show that these results differ SLIGHTLY (with
radiation fields having the largest differences near convective
regions). Compared to results obtained under OSF1 f90, the
discrepancies may have decreased, but the overall pattern of
differences appears the same. Click here for a loop of
difference plots, here for a loop of raw fields to compare, and
here for a description of the plots.

1/11/2002

With 2002011100 forecasts, implemented rewriting of initial forecast hour
PBL-scheme and radiation-scheme 2-d fields with values taken as near
to 1 minute into the simulation as the timestep allows. Fields
affected are:
PBL HGT, REGIME, SHFLUX, LHFLUX, UST, SWDOWN, LWDOWN, SWOUT, LWOUT,
T2, Q2, U10, and V10.
This is intended to show reasonable fields even at hour 0.
Adjustments do occur rapidly and these values appear reasonable.
Also with 2002011100, began writing out mmout_d[123].pblfile files
containing just the near 1-minute PBL-scheme fields of:
PBL HGT, REGIME, SHFLUX, LHFLUX, UST, T2, Q2, U10, and V10.

1/3/2002

Added probability of frozen precipitation, 1-hour snow accumulation,
and freezing level graphics for 12 and 4 km domains.

9/19/2001

With 2001091900 run, added additional graphical products such as
thickness, max CAPE, 300 mb isotachs, and 700 mb temperature.
Also added cloud fields to the 12km domain.

8/3/2001

With 2001080400 run, made default runs on tahoma use a 27-processor set.

8/1/2001

With 2001080200 run, added one more CPU tahoma, bringing us to 30.
Locking 29 of 30 (2:57,4:15 and 2:56,4:08) did not improve runtimes
over 27 of 28 (typically 2:53 and 4:05).

7/30/2001

With 2001073100 run, added one more CPU tahoma, bringing us to 29, and
replaced memory resulting in full 16-way memory interleaving. No
change in model runtimes evident.

7/27/2001

With 2001072800 run, replaced a bad memory module, SIMM, on tahoma.
Now at mostly 4-way and 8-way memory interleaving. Still waiting for
SUN to replace bad board. No change in model runtimes evident.

7/24/2001

With 2001072500 run, added 2 more CPUs to tahoma. Now at 28 of 30,
still waiting for SUN to replace bad board. 36/12 km now runs in 2:53
and 4 km domain runs in 4:08. Complete model runs are finished by
2:18 am/pm.

7/23/2001

With 2001072400 run, added 2 extra CPUs to tahoma. SUN sent 3 boards
with 2 CPUs each and only one board was working. 36/12 km runs went
from 3:08 to 3:00, 4 km domain went from 4:55 to 4:20.

7/9/2001

With 2001070912 run, incorporated the following changes to the
modeling system:
* expanded 12 km domain to cover Idaho and western Montana
(click here for a description of the domain boundaries and
TERRAIN namelist)
* added 5 new layers in the vertical, mostly in the boundary layer,
bringing us to the following full sigma levels:
1.00, 0.995*, 0.99, 0.985*, 0.98, 0.97, 0.96, 0.95*,
0.94, 0.93*, 0.92, 0.91*, 0.90,
0.88, 0.86, 0.83, 0.80, 0.77, 0.74, 0.71,
0.68, 0.64, 0.60, 0.56, 0.52, 0.48, 0.44, 0.40,
0.36, 0.32, 0.28, 0.24, 0.20, 0.16, 0.12, 0.08, 0.04, 0.
* = new
* converted from MM5 version 2.12 to MM5 version 3.4 (at a cost in
speed of approximately 10%)
* using all MM5 version 3.x preprocessing (TERRAIN, REGRID, INTERPF,
and NESTDOWN)
* using RIP 3-0 for most graphics
* complete rewrite of real-time scripts

12/21/2000

Correctly implemented deep soil reservoir temperatures that were intended
to begin 7/31/2000. First forecast using these is 2000122200.
* Deep soil (30 cm) reservoir temperature is now initialized with the
10-40 cm values given in the ETA 221 initial conditions. Should an ETA
221 forecast not be available for a given date, the most recent data
will be used.

11/28/2000

Noted that forecasts from 2000111300 to 2000112800 erroneously used SST
data from 2000111112 -- due to change in gdinfo in GEMPAK 5.6 upgrade.

11/23/2000

Returned to proper KMP_LIBRARY environment variable setting, thus improving
model run times by approximately 26 minutes for the 36/12 km run and by
15 minutes for the 4 km run starting with the 2000112300 simulation.

11/21 and 11/29/2000

Added Washington state ventilation index graphics effective with 2000112200
run for 4-km domain, and 2000113000 run for 12-km domain.

10/12/2000

Added 1-hour precip graphics to 36 km domain and 24-hour precip at hour
60 to 36 and 12 km domains with the 2000101200 run.

8/18/2000

Added Fire Weather Index, Surface Wind Speed, and Surface RH graphics
with the 2000081812 run. A brief description of the fire weather index
can be found at: http://met.rfl.psw.fs.fed.us/fwi/forecast_general.html.
Our MM5 calculation of the fire weather index uses 10 m winds and
2 m temperatures and relative humidities.

7/31/2000

Began running 4 km domain over the all of Washington and Oregon with the
2000073112 run.
This continues as MM5 v2.12 with the following additions/fixes:
* As mentioned, 4 km domain covers Washington and Oregon.
* We are once again forecasting the 4 km domain from forecast hours 12 to 36.
* 36 and 12-km domains are now forecasting out to hour 60.
* 36-km domain has been expanded south and west to near Hawaii in SW corner.
* No u-star sub-grid scale drag modifications are included.
* Deep soil (30 cm) reservoir temperature was to be initialized with the
10-40 cm values given in the ETA 221 initial conditions; HOWEVER, due to
a programming error, this was not properly implemented until Dec 22, 2000.
All deep soil temperatures are initialized with average values from the
INTERP job which generally just the average between the 0 and 3 hr
forecast.
* New graphics have been developed.

6/15/2000

After noticing extremely low wind speeds over largely sloping terrain,
at Mt. Rainier locations, we have removed the Ustar wind-speed drag
modifications from our MM5 starting with the 2000061600 run.

6/1/2000

Upgrade to real-time computers.

4/10/2000

New 4 km graphics were put into place. These include pblht and vent.
This involved changes to create_graphics.pl and create_gifs.pl.
Changes were also made to the web scripts.

2/25/2000

Air temperatures plotted in meteograms have been changed from being
the temperature at the lowest sigma level (about 40 m) to an
estimated "2 meter" temperature which is computed as:

T = ( ground surface temperatue + 40 m temperature ) * .5

1/4 to 1/24/2000

MM5 ensembles begun.
The 36/12 km domains are forecast with the AVN, NGM, NOGAPS, and
Canada's GEM model for the 00Z cycle (see this link for more information).
Full suite of ensembles made public 1/24/200.

12/21/1999

Bug fixes for latest, dec99, modeling system:
* Several fields in the mifc character array of the mmout files were seriously
garbled. Terrain variance file reading moved back to location in code prior
to CALL ADDALL fixed this. Bad headers for 1999121300 through 1999122012.
* Soil temperature data initialization using 40-day running mean was inoperative
for forecasts 1999121300 through 1999122112. Turned back on with 1999122200.

12/13/1999

Began running 4 km domain over the whole state with the 1999121300 run.
This continues as MM5 v2.12 with the following additions/fixes:
* We are now forecasting the 4 km domain from forecast hours 6 to 36.
* A bug that was introduced in the may99 version has been fixed. The
bug was incorrectly reading the terrain variance file in calculating
the u-star mods for domain 3 only.
* We are now using the version 2-12 TERRAIN program and are now using
the standard landuse.tbl and the 24 land-use categories of the
USGS datasets.
* The following are the values used in the TERRAIN namelist:
PHIC = 48.7 ; CENTRAL LATITUDE (minus for southern hemesphere)
XLONC = -138.8 ; CENTRAL LONGITUDE (minus for western hemesphere)
NESTIX= 101,100,124, 76, 1, ; DOMAIN IX
NESTJX= 137,103,172, 91, 1, ; DOMAIN JX
DIS = 36.,12., 4., 1., 1., ; GRID SIZE(KM)
MTHRD = 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, ; MOTHER DOMAIN ID
NESTI = 1, 31, 42, 39, 1, ; LOWER LEFT I OF NEST
NESTJ = 1, 85, 31, 18, 1, ; LOWNER LEFT J OF NEST

10/12/1999

Corrected a bug in our version of interp that was causing step-like features
in the boundary and initial fields for one-way nests, i.e., domain 3.
The effect of this bug on the model has not yet been determined.

10/5/1999

Meteograms for 12 km domain sounding stations added to all Web pages.
Meteogram generation starts when all 48 hours have been completed.
Process is currently separate from MM5 real-time scripts.

9/29/1999

The modeling system has been updated to more seamlessly handle switching
to alternate models when the ETA 104 does not arrive on time. The following
scripts have been updated:
run_mm5rt.pl
preprocess.pl
waitpreprocess.pl
bdycom.pl and bdycomd3.pl
rm.old.data.files.pl

9/16/1999

When running gridder and using snow files, note that the format
has changed in the GEMPAK snow files as of 1999091600. Instead of
being at glevel = 0, gvcord = pres (@0%pres), the snow and ice fields
are now at glevel = 0, gvcord = none (@0%none). This is a simple
change to make in the gridder namelist or in preprocess.pl:
snowcoord = 'none',
The real-time preprocess.pl has been changed.
Why the change? It is because the newly installed GEMPAK
(NAWIPS-5.4.12) has a slightly different
$GEMTBL/grid/vcrdgrib1.tbl file for use by nagrib.

Same change goes for SST as for snow. Use
sstcoord = 'none',
in gridder's namelist.
OTIS grib file names have also recently changed, but the GEMPAK file
names are consistent.

6/23/1999

Beginning with run 1999062312, model executable is compiled with Guide 3.7.

6/12/1999

Beginning with run 1999061200, corrected cloud-water initialization
has been turned on.

6/8/1999

Beginning with run 1999060812, switched to MM5 version 2.12 from our
modified version of 2.7. See NCAR's change log
for more information on the differences between 2.7 and 2.12.

5/28/1999

Beginning with 1999052812, model is initialized with 0-hour ETA 221
32-km gridded data, as available. We continue to interpolate from
ETA 104 80-km grid for boundary conditions at later forecast hours.

5/26/1999

Initialization of cloud mixing ratio fields for 36 and 12 km domains, using
Eta model gridded cloud fields begins with model run initialized 1999052800.
This data was included in the following model runs:
1999052800
1999052812
1999060300
1999060312
Cloud initializatoin has since been discontinued pending further testing.

5/20/1999

Improved calculation of soil substrate temperature array, using a combination
of 40-day and 2-day running mean air temps. This first implemented for model
run initialized 1999052100 UTC.
Previous model simulations used forecast future temperature for this purpose.

5/18/1999

Major changes in MM5 real-time modeling system operations implemented with
the 1999051812 forecast:
* 36 and 12 km domains run to 48 hours before 4 km starts
this results in the following time changes:
Domains Forecast Approximate Finish Time Time Change
1,2 24-hr 9:10 am/pm -1 hr 50 min (earlier)
1,2 36-hr 10:00 am/pm -3 hrs (earlier)
1,2 48-hr 10:45 am/pm -3 hrs (earlier)
3 12-hr 10:45 am/pm +1 hr 45 min (later)
3 24-hr 12:20 am/pm +1 hr 20 min (later)
3 36-hr 1:10 am/pm +20 min (later)
All complete 1:10 am/pm -30 min (earlier)
* 12-km domain has been expanded from 82x82 to 88x88
* can now start up with input cloud water fields
* can use ETA 221 32-km grids for initialization of hour, this is better than
the 80-km ETA 104 grids
* can now start up with improved soil temperatures
* preprocessing for all domains is done incrementally on the fly,
rather than all at once
* preprocessing has been moved to other computers
* output files all use 4-digit years
Note, we continue to use the same physics packages and MM5 version 2.7, though
we have upgraded to Guide 3.6 and Fortran 5.0.

Known bugs:

4/22/1999

Fixed a major bug in postprocessing script that was introduced in
March 1998 configuration of the real-time.
Result: model now finishes at least 75 minutes earlier!

2/22/1999

Changed postprocessing to include new "ripdp" version of rip. Also added
Ernie's changes which create improved labelling and color bars.

10/26/1998

Fixed problems with the domain 3 (4km) vertical cross section plots. Some
parameters were being plotted on a cross section shifted about 10 km from
where it should have been located.

8/10 and 8/17/1998

Re-formatted the alternate format pages (current and past date
versions) to make them narrower. Lines now wrap, and the table now
has a border drawn where possible.

7/23/98

Fixed the alternate format page for non-current dates so that all available
graphics are now accessible. No changes to current page or standard page
needed.

7/22/98

Added mods to zero out initial accum rainfall in initnest.F. Changes take
effect beginning with model run 98072200. No significant changes expected
in results or physics.

5/22/98

Changed from winter to summer color fill scheme for 925 and 850 mb
temperature plots in RIP.

5/22/98

Beginning with model run 98052300, we have turned off snowcover in
latitudes south of 55N. In November, the snowcover will apply to
latitudes south of 50N if elevations exceed 1219 meters. In January,
February, and March, snowcover will apply wherever the USAF snowcover
has interpolated snowcover onto the domain.

5/8/98

Beginning with model run 98050900, we have modified the 5-layer soil model
to correct for soil temperatures below snow and to correct surface
temperatures over snow. Prior results in warm weather had very cold
surface temperatures (order of 250 K) and very hot upper-level soil
temperatures (order of 340 K).

3/31/98

Beginning with model run 98040100, we have modified the preprocessing
programs to calculate RH with respect to water, at all levels.

3/18/98 (later in the day)

Beginning with model run 98031900, we have switched to using 3 hourly
boundary conditions from the ETA model, now being supplied by NCEP.
Previously, this data was only available at 6 hour intervals.

3/18/98

Several events have taken place during the past two days.

98031612: mm5 crashed

98031700: mm5 crashed

98031712: switched to an older version of mm5, which does NOT contain
ustar "form-drag" modifications and other bug fixes, while in the
process of diagnosing the problems with the mm5. This run was
successful.

98031800: NCEP hardware problem, ETA model output unavailable.

Beginning with model run 98031812, we have returned to mm5v2.7, including
the ustar modifications. This real-time mm5 system is now configured with
an expanded outer domain to extend further west, north and south. We are
also ingesting snow cover data from the U.S. Air Force, as well as new,
1/4 degree (higher resolution than before) SST data from the U.S. Navy's
OTIS ocean model.

The mm5 problems were traced to a bug in the mm5's "MRF" pbl scheme, and
this problem has been corrected.

2/4/98

Replaced the u-star modifications to the pbl scheme, since they have
been cleared of any wrongdoing, at least for the present.
So, u-star mods were missing from 98012900 until 98020412.

1/28/98

Removed the ustar mods from the mrf pbl scheme, which had been added
on 1/20/98, due to apparent problems which affected some runs.
The runs which failed to integrate through the entire 48 hour forecast
are: 98012700, 98012712 and 98012812. It is not yet clear, but possible
that all runs from 98012000 through 98012812 contain compromised
output.

1/20 - 1/21/98

Switched to version 2.7 of MM5 with ustar mods. Expect 5-10% speed up
of model.
Added numerous sounding locations and 700 mb vertical velocity graphics to
the home pages.
The ustar mods are a simple scheme which increases "form drag" (otherwise
known as friction) on the low level winds, depending on the roughness of
the terrain. The variance in terrain height is calculated from a high
resolution dataset, and then read in by the mm5. The mm5 adds a term to
the frictional component of the total wind field which is proportional to
the total wind speed and terrain variance, so that in rough terrain,
wind speed is reduced, while in other areas wind remains unaffected.

1/12/98

Added 1-hour and 24-hour (at 36 and 48 hours) precipitation graphics to
home pages.

12/18 - 12/19/97

Added hourly output to 12 km and 4 km domains after forecast hour 12.
Updated home pages to retrieve new hourly graphics and to auto-refresh
every 10 minutes instead of every 5 minutes.

12/1/97

Added map showing locations of vertical cross sections.

11/12/97

Added links to several alternate format pages that provide a faster
interface to the graphics than the standard, form request method.

11/9/97

Added 4 km domain vertical cross sections.

10/24/97

Updated MM5 home page (http://www.atmos.washington.edu/data/mm5.cgi)
to reflect the latest graphics--(specifically added links to 36km
domain cloud water fields and to 500 mb heights/vorticity plots for
all domains).
Added a link to this log file.

10/16/97

Added links to access statistics and revised info page.
Made the home page automatically refresh every 5 minutes (so users
always get the latest status message on the current forecast).

10/13/97

MM5 runs initiated once the 12-hour ETA forecast is available, rather
than waiting for all 48 hours of ETA forecasts. This is made
possible by the restarting of the model at forecast hour 12 to begin
the 4 km domain.

9/29/97

4 km domain added.

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