Hurricane Size Discrepancies

[Ptarmigan]

I notice between the Best Track and Post Wind Analysis, there are discrepancies, especially with the 1851-1987 data set.

1851-1987 Best Track Data Set
ftp://rammftp.cira.colostate.edu/demari ... oradii.txt

1988-Present Best Track
ftp://rammftp.cira.colostate.edu/demari ... k_atlc.txt

HRD Wind Analysis For Alicia
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_page ... /wind.html

HRD Wind Analysis For Ike
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_page ... /wind.html

For example, Alicia of 1983 has a large area of TS wind in the Best Track. The Post Wind Analysis has Alicia with much smaller winds.

Alicia
Alicia at 8/18/1983 06Z From Best Track
TS Wind
185 168 147 161
Hurricane Wind
67 64 59 62

Alicia at 8/18/1983 06Z From Wind Analysis
TS Wind
81 96 73 60
Hurricane Wind
39 33 0 33

Ike
Ike at 9/13/2008 06Z From Best Track
TS Wind
225 200 125 125
Hurricane Wind
110 90 55 45

Ike at 9/13/2008 0730Z From Wind Analysis
TS Wind
183 185 150 91
Hurricane Wind
94 95 62 33


That is a huge discrepancy right there. I know Alicia was not that large of hurricane. When I average up the Best Track for Alicia, the TS wind is almost as large as Ike. The discrepancy gets smaller with Ike, but it is there.