Quantitative Precipitation Forecast using MM5 and WRF models for Kelantan River Basin

Quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) from atmospheric model as input to hydrological model in an integrated hydro-meteorological flood forecasting system has been operational in many countries worldwide. High-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) models with grid cell sizes between 2 and 14 km have great potential in contributing towards reasonably accurate QPF. In this study the potential of two NWP models to forecast precipitation for a flood-prone area in a tropical region is examined. The precipitation forecasts produced from the Fifth Generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale (MM5) and Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) models are statistically verified with the observed rain in Kelantan River Basin, Malaysia. The statistical verification indicates that the models have performed quite satisfactorily for low and moderate rainfall but not very satisfactory for heavy rainfall.

Authors:

• Wardah
• T.
• Kamil
• A.A.
• Sahol Hamid
• A.B.
• Maisarah
• W.W.I

Keywords:

• MM5
• Numerical weather prediction (NWP)
• quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF)
• WRF

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