Tag Archives: wind

Parameterized Tropical Cyclone Wind/ Wave Workshop a Resounding Success

The Parameterized Tropical Cyclone Wind / Wave Workshop held on 22 August 2014 at the AMDC Building, Swinburne University brought together meteorologists and oceanographers from academia, public and the private industry from Australia and overseas.  Organised by Dave Duncalf, OWS Manager for Research and Development and Alex Babanin,  Director Centre for Ocean Engineering, Science and Technology Swinburne, the workshop aimed to discuss developments in tropical cyclone, wind and wave modelling and extreme weather conditions associated with tropical cyclone events.

A tour of the of the Offshore Weather Services Forecasting Centre in Melbourne by some of the attendees was followed by a brief bus ride  to Swinburne University newly opened AMDC Building at their Hawthorn campus where the main talks and discussions were to take place. After introductory speeches by OWS Managing Director Peter Wellby, Alex Babanin and Swinburne University Deputy Vice-Chancellor George Collins, Professor Ian Young, Vice Chancellor Australian National University started the workshop  with his talk, “A Parametric Model for Tropical Cyclone Waves.”

Other speakers include, Simon Caine and Dave Duncalf (OWS), Noel Davidson, Jeff Keppert, Andrew Donaldson and Jason Brownlee (Bureau of Meteorology), Kevin Walsh (Melbourne University), Alex Babanin and Stefan Zieger (Swinburne University), Jessica Sweeney (RPS MetOcean) and Joanna Burston (Griffith University).

The workshop was well attended  and considered to be very informative and a good informal forum for the exchange of ideas on these two idifferent but interrelated  topics.  OWS would welcome the opportunity to make the forum a regular occurrence where the latest advances in meteorology and related studies are discussed.  OWS in its commitment to utilise the latest technology in it’s marine and aviation forecasting services will continue to support events such as these.OWSWS-14

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OWS monitoring squalls for Woodside in the NW Shelf

NWS Squall

Offshore Weather Services has been providing a squall monitoring and squall forecasting service in support of Woodside Energy Limited operations over the NW Shelf, Western Australia for the past 5 months.

Squall events over the NW Shelf and along the Pilbara coast are not frequent but when they do occur they are likely to be of a severe variety with winds speeds in excess of 35kt. Squalls are characterized by a very rapid onset of winds well above those prevailing at the time. These elevated winds strengths last for several minutes before gradually decreasing. Squalls pose a very real risk to the safety of operations, have been known to cause significant damage to assets in the region and are an unwelcome disruption to operations.

OWS utilise the high resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) atmospheric model programmed by OWS’s modelling specialist Dr Simon Caine to assist forecasters in evaluating the potential risk of squalls developing, their expected movement and intensity. Specialised tracking software is then used to track individual cells or squall lines giving more accurate predictions as to the timing and likely impact at the client’s locations. Surface and upper air observations, radar and satellite data are additional tools to assist with squall monitoring and development.

A squall event occurred on 10 February 2014 producing sustained winds to 35kt (as recorded at Lagendre Island) and with gusts to over 50kt.  The WRF model captured the event very well as shown by the simulated radar images for 1200-1400UTC, and is an invaluable and proven aid in the forecasting of squall events.

OWS has been providing similar squall warnings to clients throughout Southeast Asia for many years utilising the same technology as introduced to the NW Shelf.