All-encompassing Nowcasting for GRL3?

[Darrin Rasberry]

I know I recently graduated from junior member, since I've learned quite a bit in my two months here, but there's still one very basic question left: how, exactly, do I effectively nowcast for others (or for my driver on the road) using a GRL3? I cannot find a comprehensive guide on this anywhere. Any links, as well as ongoing commentary, would be greatly appreciated, since my chase ability will be limited to the weekends until the first week of May.

I so far know how to detect couplets, eye potential "camping points" to a fair degree of accuracy for a newbie, and assess storm shape and structure to verify couplets and rotation/TVS using the radar; I can also give location arrival and intercept times due to the fact that I have to do quick arithmetic in my head for my profession. One thing I cannot do, however, is isolate a good storm to track to begin with; any advice on that would be appreciated, as well as considerations on how often a cell will change direction, what direction it will likely change to, and how to tell the type of supercell given only the radar.

Thanks in advance!

[Jeff Snyder]

One could write pages and pages (and books!) on answers to your questions. Instead, I'll point you to a couple of valuable resources that should help you out.

--> Warning Decision Training Branch Distance Learning courses (http://www.wdtb.noaa.gov/courses/dloc/outline.html) -- check out the modules, particularly Topic 5 and Topic 7.

--> WDTB Advanced Warning Operations Courses (http://www.wdtb.noaa.gov/courses/awoc/awoc.html#SevereTrack) -- more good modules, though they focus less on radar data (and more on satellite, etc). Still highly recommended.

[Karen Politte]

Darrin -

Bear in mind that knowing how to identify symbols, shapes and markers on GRLevel3, and being fully versed in radar interpretation are two very different creatures. You will only be an effective nowcaster for a chaser in the field if you educate yourself on actual radar interpretation and learn what to look for on active chase days.

Try looking around for some NWS Spotter Classes that you can attend in your area - perhaps some of them will give radar talks. I know that the Weather Workshop in Norman and the TESSA gathering in the D/FW area are all great venues for learning basic and advanced radar interpretation.

The links above that Jeff posted are ideal. In particular, DLOC Topic 7, Lesson 5 (http://www.wdtb.noaa.gov/courses/dloc/topic7/lesson5/player.html) is quite helpful. It will of course depend on how advanced your own knowledge base is at present. Try searching around on Google for radar interpretation information, too.

KL