Regional Hydrodynamic Model Outputs of the NOAA Lake Michigan and Huron Operational Forecast System (LMHOFS)

NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) has developed a Lake Michigan and Huron Operational Forecast System (LMHOFS). LMHOFS is based on a three-dimensional ROMS model that runs on NOAA's High Performance Computers (HPC). LMHOFS provides water level, currents, water temperature and salinity nowcast and forecast guidance as well as interpolated winds from National Weather Service products. LMHOFS runs four times per day and generates 6-hour nowcasts and 48-hour forecast guidance. LMHOFS products include time series graphics at station locations and aerial animations of the whole Chesapeake Bay for all five parameters (wind, water level, currents, temperature and salinity). Additionally, LMHOFS relies on Extratropical Storm Surge forecasts, CO-OPS' real-time water level, temperature and salinity observations, USGS river data, and the Global Real-Time Ocean Forecast System.

      The upgraded LMHOFS uses the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) as its core circulation model. It is coupled to unstructured grid version of Los Alamos Sea Ice Model (UG-CICE) to provide additional forecast guidance of ice concentration, ice thickness and ice velocity. The forecast horizon is extended to 120 hours. It is expected to generate a more accurate model output than the former LMOFS and LHOFS, which have separate model domains based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM).