Attrition of Ground Weather Observations during Hurricane Landfall

Abstract eng:
This paper assesses the performance of the two most widely used networks in the United States, the Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS) and its predecessor, the Automated Surface Weather Observing System (AWOS), during the 1998-2004 Tropical Cyclones Bonnie, Earl, Bret, Floyd, Irene, Lili, Claudette, Isabel, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Records available in the National Climatic Data Center indicate that at the onset of tropical storm force winds, almost 25% of the stations failed to report. At Saffir-Simpson Category 1 wind speeds, over 90% of the stations ceased to communicate. All stations that experienced Saffir-Simpson Category 2 wind speeds failed.

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