|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
| Strong low-level cold outflow
from the interior of Alaska pours through Kamishak Gap, through Kamishak
Bay and through Stevenson Entrance of Cook Inlet... |
| Under support from the Coastal Marine Institute(CMI)/
Minerals Management Service (MMS), the AEFF operates a real-time version
of the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS),
producing 36 hour forecasts for the greater Cook Inlet (CI)/Shelikof Strait
initialized at 00 UTC (00Z). This is done using a nested-grid approach (64,
16, and 4 km grid mesh), with output every hour. Forecast graphics for Grid 2 (Southern Alaska and the Gulf of Alaska), Grid 3 (greater Cook Inlet region) and sub-domains (Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait) can be found on the AEFF Weather Briefer's Page. Examples of the areas covered by the plots are shown below. Instructions on how to access the animated time series of plots from the Weather Briefer's Page are also available here. (Note that for the 00Z run, the Shelikof Strait plots replace the Prince William Sound plots.) |
| The plot domains
available from the Weather Briefer's Page (Click on the images for the full-sized plots) |
|
|
|
| Grid
2. With a 16-km grid spacing, Grid
2 covers Southern Alaska and most of the Gulf of Alaska. This grid is a "go-between"
between Grids 1 (not shown) and 3, transferring the synoptic scale forcing
to the finest-mesh grid. |
Grid
3. The 4-km grid spacing of Grid
3 allows for the large-scale forcing to interact with the extreme topography
of the CI surroundings to provide very localized circulation and precipitation
patterns . |
|
|
| Cook
Inlet Subdomain. This subdomain
of Grid 3 shows greater detail of the Cook Inlet proper. Note the jet
from the east (rather unusual) in Kennedy and Stevenson Entrances.
|
Shelikof Strait Subdomain. The Shelikof Strait subdomain of Grid 3 shows greater detail of that area. Note the difference in wind regimes between upper Cook Inlet (Cook Inlet Subdomain) and lower Cook Inlet/Shelikof Strait. |
