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type: Concept

LOWS
type: Concept
definition: The Lake Ontario Winter Storms (LOWS; Reinking et al. 1993) project is an example of a wintertime field experiment where man–machine forecasting played an important role. The experiment was conducted between 5 January and 1 March 1990 over the Lake Ontario region. The main project objective was to improve forecasting of lake-effect snowstorms and freezing rain events over and near Lake Ontario. Guidance for field operations was provided by a lead forecaster at the NWS Forecast Office in Buffalo, New York, who worked with a project forecast committee. A lake snow outlook was provided four times daily. Data from ground-based project facilities as well as model output from a locally run version of the Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU–NCAR) Mesoscale Model version 4 MM4 were used to assist forecasters. The focus in LOWS was on precipitation and not on PBL development, and measurement facilities did not include aircraft. Thus, project forecasters did not explicitly have to target features like PBL depth or visibility so they could take advantage of existing statistical models and decision trees (e.g., machines) for lake-effect snow. Summary provided by http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1175%2F1520-0434(1999)014%3C0955%3AFDTLIS%3E2.0.CO%3B2&ct=1
in scheme: projects