Tropical Atlantic: Wind Data

There have been no NHC models available in the past 24 hours.

Friday, November 21, 2008 3:17 GMT

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Wind Data

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Wind / Wind Shear / Steering Currents
Surface Winds
Inland Wind Model

Wind

Western North Atlantic GOES-East Satellite Derived Winds and Analyses
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/atlantic/winds/winds.html

Direct link to steering currents:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/atlantic/winds/winds-dlm.html
Steering currents at different pressure elevations. Not sure which to look at? How strong is the storm? Take a look at "Steering Layer ???-??? for TC MSLP of ???-???." If the cyclone has a pressure of 1010mb, the 700-850 might be more relevant. See "Product Interpretation" for more.

Direct link to Atlantic wind shear:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/atlantic/winds/wg8shr.html

Direct link to Atlantic wind shear tendency:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/atlantic/winds/wg8sht.html
Has the wind shear lessened or become stronger over the past 24 hours?

For just off Africa: wind shear | more...

The following come from the "Tropical Cyclone Formation Probability Product" page which is located here.

What shear should we expect this time of year?
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/gparm/xycshr.gif

How much more or less shear is there as compared to normal?
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/gparm/xyashr.gif

On the model page of our site, you can find links to various models. Some of those models may have an option to display the wind shear forecast over the forecast period. Here is one site that presents wind shear data: Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Center. Another can be found by selecting the "Wind Shear" option on this page: Model Maps from Weather Underground

Surface Winds

QuikSCAT can view fairly accurately through clouds to determine surface winds.

Marine Observing Systems Team (NOAA/NESDIS)
This site contains various surface wind techniques. Take a look at the many options in the left column of the Remotely Sensed Ocean Surface Winds page. You'll see the following surface wind techniques and measurements: QuikSCAT, WindSAT, SSM/I, and ERS-2. Some of the products have pages for active storms.

Surface Winds from NOAA CoastWatch Program
This site provides a lot of imagery that allows you to select water regions that you want to view specific surface wind for. Regions are provided in alphabetical order. If you get to the page and see only Alaska imagery, use the arrow at the bottom of the page to continue to other regions. Sometimes it may take going through many pages. The latest image for each particular region is the last image shown. If you click the first "Gulf of Mexico" image you see, it is the oldest. Go to the last thumbnail before a new region is listed. It should, unless they change it, be the latest info. Look at the times under the thumbnails to see if you are selecting the latest image. Take a look at both QuikSCAT and SSM/I imagery. You might find more up to date imagery than simply only ever using one product.

Scatterometer wind products from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
QuikSCAT and other surface wind observing products can be found on this site.

Another site with Quikscat winds, but you can't zoom in close: NRL Monterey Scatterometer Winds

Navy / Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Tropical Cyclone Page
Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) Tropical Cyclone Page
These two pages are very similar. If you look at active storms in the left column, you will find surface wind imagery available at the top of the page. These pages have a lot of useful content.

A note about some of the sites above. Make sure you note the correct time data was observed. For the main Quikscat site, and some others, the time the data was observed is noted in purple under the longitude near the bottom of the image. Other times are simply when the image may have been created, such as the last time the system checked to see if info was available.

If you want to know what ascending and descending means in regards to the imagery on these sites, click here.

Other QuikSCAT info:
About QuikSCAT
About the launch of the satellite

Inland Wind Model

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/wind/risk_areas.shtml

An updated version of the previous wind model images that were hard to read. This is an estimate of how far the wind will come inland with a landfalling storm.