What Is PGI Short For?

[Ptarmigan]

What is PGI short for? I know it is for track tropical waves.

[supercane]

PREDICT-GRIP-IFEX. See this excerpt from the PREDICT blog.

*Each “pouch” that comes off of the west coast of Africa and travels west across the Atlantic has the potential to develop into something bigger. The idea is to study these developing pouches and see what they develop into. These pouches are given a number so the scientists can identify and track them accordingly. “PGI” stands for PREDICT-GRIP-IFEX, which are the names of the three field projects that are concurrently running in the tropics right now. So when they refer to PGI27, it is simply the name that the tri-agency group has given to a particular wave so they can all track and identify the same unit.

[Ptarmigan]

Thanks!

[Ladylight]

Thank you so much for that explanation. I was confused by that myself and about to ask so thanks also for asking.

Can someone explain why they are later renamed invests? Is that only when the NHC decides to monitor them? Many thanks.

[ColinDelia]

Ladylight,

Invest:
A weather system for which a tropical cyclone forecast center (NHC, CPHC, or JTWC) is interested in collecting specialized data sets (e.g., microwave imagery) and/or running model guidance. Once a system has been designated as an invest, data collection and processing is initiated on a number of government and academic web sites, including the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (UW-CIMSS). The designation of a system as an invest does not correspond to any particular likelihood of development of the system into a tropical cyclone; operational products such as the Tropical Weather Outlook or the JTWC/TCFA should be consulted for this purpose.

[Ladylight]

Thanks so much colindelia. So, while they're coming off the coast of Africa, scientists look at them and give them a PGI numerical label. When tropical forecast centers start watching them, they get an invest numerical label. Do I have that straight?

[thetruesms]

Thanks so much colindelia. So, while they're coming off the coast of Africa, scientists look at them and give them a PGI numerical label. When tropical forecast centers start watching them, they get an invest numerical label. Do I have that straight?

Pretty much, though they've gone so far as to tag thunderstorm complexes over Africa with a PGI label if they feel that it could have potential for study once it does get over water.

Don't get too used to PGI, though. As far as I can tell, only the multi-year IFEX is going beyond the end of the month. Given that we haven't something like this with IFEX in the past, it probably wouldn't be wise to expect it to continue.