MAF - Gridded NUCAPS comparisons

2045Z: With the first echoes appearing over the Davis Mountains, I was able to look at gridded NUCAPS to determine the state of the atmosphere. I was most interested in looking at the mid-level lapse rate fields, especially if they were steeper than  my initial analysis earlier this afternoon.

NUCAPS 700-500 mb lapse rates were generally around 6.5-7 C/km over SE NM & W TX. Comparing these lapse rates to the HRRR, GFS, & NAM40 the NUCAPS were the least steep with the GFS & NAM40 especially forecasting 700-500 mb lapse rate values of 7-7.5 C/km. In this case NUCAPS actually compared the best to SPC mesoanalysis values which are what I usually look at in a warning operation environment. This helped add to my confidence in the overall evolution of the event & widespread severe weather still looks unlikely.
NUCAPS 700-500 mb lapse rates 4panel:

Earlier this afternoon I was looking at the gridded NUCAPS fields with the data blacked out in areas with bad NUCAPS soundings. It was difficult to piece together spatial trends & gradients with all of the data blackouts & I did not find these fields very useful. As of this blog post we now have the NUCAPS gridded fields with continuous data & the blacked out areas now filled in. While this data may not be as "realistic" it is much easier to spatially analyze the data & use the product in an operational sense. I would highly recommend preesenting the data this way in an operational setting.
NUCAPS Spatially Continuous Data:

Peter Sunday