Forecasters were burdened with the impossible task of reviewing all the incoming data made possible through new technologies, while producing timely forecasts. It became obvious that local data needed to be objectively analyzed in conjunction with nationally disseminated data. Conceived as a resolution to this challenge, LAPS was designed to analyze all local data in real time on an affordable computer workstation, using its own output fields to initialize local-scale forecast models. A more detailed review of LAPS is available in McGinley et al. Under development since 1990, LAPS combines nationally disseminated data with local data for real-time objective analyses of all data available to the local weather forecast office.
LAPS analyses are of suitable quality to initialize a local-scale forecast model.
Its versatility to ingest a multitude of data types combined with its portability and computational efficiency have made it ideal for such applications. Forecasts have been used to identify regions of instability in the preconvective environment. Since 10-km grid resolution is generally too coarse to predict convection and storm interactions, the models generally have not been found to be that useful for forecasting actual storms, though some rather dramatically successful forecasts have been documented, Szoke and Marroquin 2000. As part of our recent upgrades, two major changes have occurred. Other LAPS state variables are used for supporting information, such as the temperature, humidity, and height analyses.