Rainfall Estimation by the WSR-88D for Heavy Rainfall Events

Abstract Storms that produce extreme flooding present a special challenge for the WSR-88D rainfall algorithms. The authors assess the utility of weather radar in the investigation of extreme rain-producing storms through both climatological analyses of long-term radar datasets and case studies of storm events. Climatological analyses are presented for long records of WSR-88D volume scan reflectivity observations, for hourly radar rainfall accumulations products (WSR-88D and WSR-57D), and for radar–rain gauge intercomparisons. These analyses provide a context for interpreting case study assessments of WSR-88D rainfall estimates. Case studies are presented of five storms that produced extreme floods in the United States. Events include 1) the orographically enhanced Rapidan storm in the Blue Ridge region of Virginia, which resulted in more than 600 mm of rain during a 6-h period on 27 June 1995; 2) the southeast Texas storms of 16–17 October 1994 in which approximately 750 mm of rain fell during a 6-h time ...

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