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This is a preliminary set of satellite climatologies for the convective season over a region centered around Wakefield, VA. GOES 8 visible data for May through October during 1998, 1999, and 2000 were collected each daylight hour. The data was then separated by wind regime to determine cloud cover percentage for each hour.
The wind regime for each day is determined using the 1000 – 700mb Mean Layer Vector Winds (MLVW). This parameter is derived from the 12 UTC ETA model analysis fields in the vicinity of each AWIPS site and represents a ‘sounding’. The MLVW is then calculated using PC-Gridded Interactive Display and Diagnostic System (PC-GRIDDS) software. Currently, the data for this project were separated into nine generalized regimes. These cover the eight points of the compass and a calm (5 m/s) regime, as listed in the table below.
| Regime | May-Oct 98-00 (Full Season) | Wakefield Sector |
| 1 | Calm winds (speed < 5 m/s) | Calm |
| 2 | North | North |
| 3 | Northeast | Northeast |
| 4 | East | East |
| 5 | Southeast | Southeast |
| 6 | South | South |
| 7 | Southwest | Southwest |
| 8 | West | West |
| 9 | Northwest | Northwest |
| Regime | May-Jul 98-00 | |
| 1 | Calm winds (speed < 5 m/s) | Calm |
| 2 | North | North |
| 3 | Northeast | Northeast |
| 4 | East | East |
| 5 | Southeast | Southeast |
| 6 | South | South |
| 7 | Southwest | Southwest |
| 8 | West | West |
| 9 | Northwest | Northwest |
| Regime | Aug-Oct 98-00 | |
| 1 | Calm winds (speed < 5 m/s) | Calm |
| 2 | North | North |
| 3 | Northeast | Northeast |
| 4 | East | East |
| 5 | Southeast | Southeast |
| 6 | South | South |
| 7 | Southwest | Southwest |
| 8 | West | West |
| 9 | Northwest | Northwest |
In the future, we would like to customize the wind regimes to better match the conditions in Wakefield. Please contact Cindy Combs at combs@cira.colostate.edu with any comments or suggestions.
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