4-KM WRF Predicts Lake Erie Snow Band!

I've talked before on this blog how the new high-res 4-KM WRF model can pick out individual thunderstorms and lake-effect snow bands, while previous models have invisioned weather as huge squares of data the size of Massachusetts. While this is great news, it still doesn't always get them in the correct place, proving that not only resolution, but accurate forecasting algorithms are required to produce a realistic forecast. Today, the WRF proved that it can do both. Here's the 12Z (7 AM) forecast for 21Z (4 PM) today:

And here's the current radar shot from our Enhanced Radar which is now available on AccuWeather.com:

Note the elongated heavy snow band stretching from Lake Erie into Southwest Pennsylvania. One could argue that the timing is off, but the band will probably still be there at 4 PM today, and if not, that's the third part of the equation - the model needs to get the timing right too. In any case, this is the most impressive prediction of a small-scale snow event that I've seen from the model.

You can get the 4-KM WRF and 24 other Computer Forecast Models [JessePedia] on our AccuWeather.com Professional website (try a 30-day free trial today!)