Hurricane Ophelia

Possibilities and limits of nowcasting

This case demonstrates that nowcasting can be a helpful tool for tracking cells. On the other hand these methods only take into account the displacement of the phenomena, not the intensity. Cell detection methods, when compared to consecutive images, can be used to check whether a cell has weakened or intensified. However, these tools were not able to forecast the amount of precipitation or the intensity of hail. 3D radar data could probably provide a better estimation of intensity.