seahawkjd wrote:Why is it that the NHC this year seems to be extremely low on their estimates of strengh, dangerously low in the case of Charley. I think every storm thats developed has done so fast and a lot stronger then they anticipate.
Because they're trying to be as accurate as possible for intensity forecasting.
The way you end up inaccurate is by forecasting extremes.
Rapid intensification in hurricanes cannot be forecasted.
So every single hurricane that DOES end up very strong ends up having been underforecasted by NHC, and creates the IMPRESSION that they are underforecasting intensity.
However, if you keep foreacasting every storm to massively intensify, you'll eventually get burned...badly.
I saw someone forecast Earl to 145 kts when it was a TS. It disappated.
That destroys your accuracy numbers when that happens.
Once you forecast for some sort of contest or in a formal way, you quickly understand why NHC is conservative on forecasting intensity.