NUCAPS vs. 18z DFW Observed

NUCAPS soundings became available at 20z...2 hours after the latest observed sounding at DFW. The initial NUCAPS sounding was fairly unrepresentative of the closest observations of temperature and dewpoint. Once modified to match, CAPE numbers matched up well will RAP and observed sounding. One feature that NUCAPS was not able to capture was the cap that is proving to be very inhibitive of the convective activity in the DFW area this afternoon. While the smoothing of features in the sounding is problematic...it does lend some confidence to the observations of some of the other parameters. In my home CWA it is rare that we would have an 18z observed sounding available...and this would be a good check against RAP soundings. From a workload perspective...in a warning environment there is no way forecasters are going to take the time out to modify the soundings so the algorithm to fix that issue will be a very big help.

 

-Jason Bourne