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Is the WRF an improvement on the old ETA?

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:44 pm
by Ed Mahmoud
I'd throw in the Canadian Mesoscale, but it ends about at my house.
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I know the WRF replaced the ETA as the NAM, but was it an improvement? I see criticisms of the NAM in respect to the GFS, even in winter weather situations in AFDs, (where you'd think higher resolution would give it an advantage) and I was wondering what the experts and amateurs thought.

Re: Is the WRF an improvement on the old ETA?

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 2:43 am
by wall_cloud
I think its too early to tell. The problem with the WRF is that the equations will likely be changed often enough that a clear bias will be difficult to detect (like the GFS is tweaked now). The ETA had these biases that most forecasters were aware of. I think the NAM tends to do well in my neck of the woods. It generally handles the lee trof better than its counterparts but after 2 days, my confidence in the NAM drops significantly.