Observed wind patterns are correlated with synoptic or mescoscale weather systems. Six sites selected for analysis include Montauk Point, New York; Boone, North Carolina; Ludington, Michigan; Clayton, New Mexico; Amarillo, Texas; and San Gorgonio Pass, California. Objectives of the analysis are: to identify synoptic and/or mesoscale weather patterns that are associated with recognizable wind events at the sites; to define a set of criteria that uniquely describes such weather patterns; to estimate the reliability (accuracy) of forecasting rules derived from the association of weather patterns and site winds; and to attempt to separate any mesoscale effects of local topography from the synoptic-scale effects. One-to-one mapping of wind regimes onto synoptic types was not found. It was concluded that four factors should be examined when stratifying wind regimes: synoptic situation, descriptive climatology, pressure gradient vector, and winds aloft. The wind forecasting approach developed was intended for forecasting hourly average winds out to the 24 hour or possibly 36 hour time horizon. (LEW)
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
Resource Characterization, Forecasting & Maps
Distributed Wind
Utility-Scale Wind
Technical Report
Notis, C.; Trettel, D.W.; Aquino, J.T.; Piazza, T.R.; Taylor, L.E.; Trask, D.C.; Wegley, H.L.; Miller, A.H.