Sampling Total PW gridded NUCAPS with contours overlaid on top, we see that the values are unrealistically high (over 3 inches). The 18 UTC soundings from the Twin Cities offices shows PWATs only around 1.30” which confirms this is incorrect. Also, the contours are in centimeters, not inches which is what the images. I plotted the NUCAPS sounding points to see if the points were “yellow” but it looks like the points were unavailable at this time step.

From this time step, the gridded NUCAPS matched up very well with the special 18 UTC soundings and the total PW values are realistic and make sense given the environment. Also the NUCAP points are all green which solidifies that the satellite was able to obtain a good sample.

– Fear the Shear