Impact of VORTEX2 observations on analyses and forecasts of the 5 June 2009 Goshen County, Wyoming, supercell

Several data assimilation and forecast experiments are undertaken to determine the impact of special observations taken during the second Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (VORTEX2) on forecasts of the 5 June 2009 Goshen County, Wyoming, supercell. The data used in these experiments are those from the Mobile Weather Radar, 2005 X-band, Phased Array (MWR-05XP); two mobile mesonets (MM); and several mobile sounding units. Data sources are divided into "routine," including those from operational Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Dopplers (WSR-88Ds) and the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) network, and "special" observations from the VORTEX2 project. VORTEX2 data sources are denied individually from a total of six ensemble square root filter (EnSRF) data assimilation and forecasting experiments. The EnSRF data assimilation uses 40 ensemble members on a 1-km grid nested inside a 3-km grid. Each experiment assimilates data every 5 min for 1 h, followed by a 1-h forecast. All experiments are able to reproduce the basic evolution of the supercell, though the impact of the VORTEX2 observations was mixed. The VORTEX2 sounding data decreased the mesocyclone intensity in the latter stages of the forecast, consistent with observations. The MWR-05XP data increased the forecast vorticity above approximately 1 km AGL in all experiments and had little impact on forecast vorticity below 1 km AGL. The MM data had negative impacts on the intensity of the low-level mesocyclone, by decreasing the vertical vorticity and indirectly by decreasing the buoyancy of the inflow.