Hurricane Wilma's WindField.

[CHRISTY]

i never quiet new wilmas windfield was that big.

[Jim Cantore]

Remember when she had a 2 mile eye how tight the windfield once

the tale of 2 storms

[Extremeweatherguy]

That is what I call a HUGE windfield. 46mph winds as far north as ORLANDO and as far south as CUBA!

[Audrey2Katrina]

Is that the official HRD wind field? Or someone else's... just out of curiosity.

A2K

[Audrey2Katrina]

Okay, nevermind; I just noticed the HRD's map... for comparison here it is:

[img]ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/hrd/hwind/2005/al24.2005/1024/1030/col08deg.png[/img]

Looks like the worst winds were to the south... didn't realize how much the Keys could've gotten from this one.

A2K

[thunderchief]

right side winds are always stronger, and with a fast moving storm like this they are much stronger. The first picture is fake/wrong.

[Ixolib]

right side winds are always stronger, and with a fast moving storm like this they are much stronger. The first picture is fake/wrong.

Hmmmmm.....

But, doesn't the "official" second picture indicate a similar situation with the same swath of high winds encircling the center?

[recmod]

The first picture may be too symmetrical in its wind distribution, but the second one is definitely wrong. According to the second image, sustained winds only reached 20knots or less in the Orlando area.... Orlando International airport measured sustained winds at 40knots. Also, according to the second wind distribution map, Melbourne only received winds in the 20 knot range, while the actual maximum sustained winds were measured at 48knots..

--Lou

[ROCK]

Okay, nevermind; I just noticed the HRD's map... for comparison here it is:

[img]ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/hrd/hwind/2005/al24.2005/1024/1030/col08deg.png[/img]

Looks like the worst winds were to the south... didn't realize how much the Keys could've gotten from this one.

A2K

HRD windfield chart?? If I remember correctly, WXMN57 posted Katrina's and it was proved not accurate to people living in that area. Which is it?

[wxman57]

HRD windfield chart?? If I remember correctly, WXMN57 posted Katrina's and it was proved not accurate to people living in that area. Which is it?

Not sure what you're talking about, Rock. The HRD (Hurricane Research Division) IS the official source of post-storm wind data from all sources. Regardless of what some may think Katrina's winds were at landfall, the data recorded are likely more reliable than people's feelings.

The first map posted in this thread is NOT a windfield analysis, it is a forecast graphic from PC Weather Product's HurrTrak program. The wind fields represented are the MARINE wind field forecasts from the NHC advisories, they are not the observed wind field.

We can see two things on that first graphic. First, the NHC wind radii forecast for Wilma was clearly off. Also, the marine forecasts do not account for wind reducitons over land due to surface friction.

The HRD wind swath analysis for Wilma is still not complete. I think they took the last 2 months off.

[wxman57]

The first picture may be too symmetrical in its wind distribution, but the second one is definitely wrong. According to the second image, sustained winds only reached 20knots or less in the Orlando area.... Orlando International airport measured sustained winds at 40knots. Also, according to the second wind distribution map, Melbourne only received winds in the 20 knot range, while the actual maximum sustained winds were measured at 48knots..

--Lou

Note that the second image posted is only a smapshot of Wilma's wind field at landfall, it does not represent Wilma's wind swath across Florida. Wilma's wind field was actually expanding as it crossed the Peninsula. The strongest winds in Orlando and Melbourne were felt 3-5 hours after the time of the 2nd image above, as Wilma emerged into the Altantic. Hopefully, the full wind swath will be available from HRD in the coming weeks.

Oh, and Orlando measured 30-35 kts, not 40 kts, according to the official NHC post-storm report:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL242005_Wilma.pdf

[wjs3]

Great reply, WXMAN.

Help me if I'm wrong here, but I think that the final anaysis you describe--showing a cyclone's actual windfield based on data looks like this--an example from Katrina (which you may have already posted):

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_page ... ath_kt.pdf

If not, can you point me to where to find it on the HRD site?

Thanks

[wxman57]

Great reply, WXMAN.

Help me if I'm wrong here, but I think that the final anaysis you describe--showing a cyclone's actual windfield based on data looks like this--an example from Katrina (which you may have already posted):

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_page ... ath_kt.pdf

If not, can you point me to where to find it on the HRD site?

Thanks

That's a wind swath graphic, wjs3. I had emailed the guys at HRD back in December and they estimated that they'd have Wilma's swath up by the end of February. It's not there yet, but here's the link to the other Wilma data. The wind swath will appear up top when it's done:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_page ... /wind.html

Main HRD Wind Field Analysis Page:
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/wind2005.html

[wjs3]

OK, thanks..,

My vocabulary may have gotten in the way of me there. Just so I am clear, the wind swath (a picture over time of the highest winds experienced in a TC) is what we should look at for what areas were affected with what winds as a TC passes...right?

And a windfield, in contrast, tells us AT A POINT IN TIME what the structure of the TC was in terms of observed winds...What winds were actually being experienced at the surface, in the TC at that moment.

Do I have that right now?

Thanks!

[wxman57]

OK, thanks..,

My vocabulary may have gotten in the way of me there. Just so I am clear, the wind swath (a picture over time of the highest winds experienced in a TC) is what we should look at for what areas were affected with what winds as a TC passes...right?

And a windfield, in contrast, tells us AT A POINT IN TIME what the structure of the TC was in terms of observed winds...What winds were actually being experienced at the surface, in the TC at that moment.

Do I have that right now?

Thanks!

That's pretty much it!

[ROCK]

HRD windfield chart?? If I remember correctly, WXMN57 posted Katrina's and it was proved not accurate to people living in that area. Which is it?

Not sure what you're talking about, Rock. The HRD (Hurricane Research Division) IS the official source of post-storm wind data from all sources. Regardless of what some may think Katrina's winds were at landfall, the data recorded are likely more reliable than people's feelings.

The first map posted in this thread is NOT a windfield analysis, it is a forecast graphic from PC Weather Product's HurrTrak program. The wind fields represented are the MARINE wind field forecasts from the NHC advisories, they are not the observed wind field.

We can see two things on that first graphic. First, the NHC wind radii forecast for Wilma was clearly off. Also, the marine forecasts do not account for wind reducitons over land due to surface friction.

The HRD wind swath analysis for Wilma is still not complete. I think they took the last 2 months off.

Sorry Chris, let me explain. Just wanted to point out the fact that some people in this thread discounted Katrina's HRD analysis in which you posted:

http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic ... &start=100

page 6. So I ask the question, why is one discounted and one not when they are both official. Makes you go hmmmmm....

[wxman57]

Sorry Chris, let me explain. Just wanted to point out the fact that some people in this thread discounted Katrina's HRD analysis in which you posted:

http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic ... &start=100

page 6. So I ask the question, why is one discounted and one not when they are both official. Makes you go hmmmmm....

Still not sure what you're talking about, Rock. There are two graphics posted in this thread. One is a post-storm wind analysis for Wilma at one time period - landfall. The other is a marine (offshore) wind field forecast from the NHC, not an analysis.

[JonathanBelles]

Okay, nevermind; I just noticed the HRD's map... for comparison here it is:

[img]ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/hrd/hwind/2005/al24.2005/1024/1030/col08deg.png[/img]

Looks like the worst winds were to the south... didn't realize how much the Keys could've gotten from this one.

A2K

HRD windfield chart?? If I remember correctly, WXMN57 posted Katrina's and it was proved not accurate to people living in that area. Which is it?

i know the worst winds battered the east coast but this does not show this, why?

[wjs3]

Fact789:

It doesn't show the worst of the impacts on the east coast because this is an analysis of the windfield at a point in time--1030 UTC on 10/24 which was before the worst of the hurricane reached the east coast. The strongest winds in the hurricane are nowhere near the east coast at this time...they will no doubt be nearer the east coast later--as the center gets there (can you see how the center of the storm is just making landfall on the west coast in this windfield analysis?)

For perspective, here's a link to the same kind of image 8 hours later--at 1630 Z:

ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/hrd/hwind/2 ... l08deg.png

By this time, the hurricane is off of the east coast.

Hope this helps

[JonathanBelles]

thanxs do u have one about 3 or 4 hours earlier (about the peak of the winds on the east coast)