An area of heavy rain and thunderstorms moved through portions of Oklahoma late Thursday morning, prompting a flash flood emergency. Reports of 2-4’ of rainfall in a short period of time resulted in flash floods. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding and firefighters performed more than a dozen high-water rescues. Cars were nearly completely submerged in parts of the city.
Two members of GSD’s experimental ensemble depicted a scenario of long-lasting thunderstorms that had the potential to cause flooding. An ensemble is a collection of model forecasts each with slightly different rules. If several of the ensemble members predict the same scenario, a forecaster has more confidence that the scenario could happen.
A massive hailstorm with 2.75” hail hit parts of Colorado Springs are on August 6, 2018. The storm caused $$ in damage and injured 14 people and killed at least two animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
GSD’s experimental version of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh Ensemble precisely predicted severe weather to the correct county 24 hours in advance and was consistent in the prediction over time.
In 2018, California was named the state with the most “deadliest wildfires” when it had over 8,527 fires burning an area of 1,893,913 acres. Which is equal to 1,434,783 football field of burnt and destroyed land. The “Campfire”, named after an unpaved Camp Fire Road in Butte County started after a power transmission line created a small blaze.
GSL's experimental HRRR-Smoke model was used extensively to provide decision support for firefighters, the transportation and tourism industries, and air quality alerts.
GSL developed high-resolution forecasts for Alaska in 2018 that will help support air travel.