We assess an operational merged gauge–radar precipitation product over a period of 12 years, using gridded precipitation fields from a dense gauge network (WegenerNet) in southeastern Austria. We analyze annual data, seasonal data, and extremes using different metrics. We identify individual events using a simple threshold based on the interval between two consecutive events and evaluate the events' characteristics in both datasets.

Empirical high-resolution surface wind fields from two study areas, automatically generated by a weather diagnostic application, were intercompared with wind fields of different modeling approaches. The focus is on evaluating spatial differences and displacements between the different datasets. In general, the spatial verification indicates a better statistical agreement for the first study area (hilly WegenerNet Feldbach Region), than for the second one (mountainous WegenerNet Johnsbachtal).

Ensemble forecasting offers a useful method to simulate the uncertainty of a numerical forecast model for each individual forecast run. This study compares ALADIN-LAEF, a 16-member ensemble with a resolution of 11 km that combines several perturbation methods, with AROME-EPS, which downscales the members of ALADIN-LAEF to 2.5 km resolution. The verification shows that there are benefits of a higher-resolution ensemble, especially for highly localized precipitation and for mountainous terrain.

Ensemble prediction systems are becoming of more and more interest for various applications. They are used to account for uncertainties that exist from the very beginning of a forecast due to the chaotic behavior of atmospheric processes as well as approximations in numerical models. Ensemble nowcasting systems are therefore increasingly requested by end users. In this study we show that En-INCA, an integrated probabilistic nowcasting system, is able to improve existing state-of-the-art LAM-EPS.

The paper introduces a high resolution precipitation analysis system which operates on 1 km x 1 km resolution with high frequency updates of 5 minutes. The ability of such a system to adequately assess the convective precipitation distribution is evaluated by means of an independant, high resolution station network. This dense station network allows for a thorough evaluation of the analyses under different convective situations and of the representativeness error of raingaue measurements.