| High-based convection, shallow winter storms, and topographic effects often result in inaccurate quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) using radar data alone. This study used radar QPE data and California Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC) Mountain Mapper (MM) QPE data for verification of quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF). A comparative analysis was conducted using radar QPE, CNRFC MM QPE, QPF results, and selected gauge data on both sides of the Sierra Nevada. Results from three winter storm events showed that the radar QPE estimates underestimated the gauge measurements on the downwind side, but were in reasonable agreement on the upwind side, except for a few storm periods when the radar QPE overestimated the gauge measurements. Overall results of the CNRFC MM QPE showed smaller overestimates and underestimates when compared to the gauge measurements. Using methods developed in this research, National Weather Service forecasters will be able to utilize radar-derived QPE products in near real-time, together with MM data, for short term forecasting applications. |
