This is a comparison between three options for the OCTANE Cloud Top Divergence. The top animation is No Smooth, the middle is Medium Smooth, and the bottom is High Smooth.  For starters, I do like the looks of the smoothing option, it is easier on the eyes and rids of any excess noise.  I feel this helps to recognize trends easier and remain focused on those trends through the animation resulting in being particularly helpful in real-time operations since the warning meteorologist eyes are constantly moving from screen-to-screen.

In this loop, following the regenerating updrafts west of College Station and Snook, TX, was somewhat easier to follow on either the medium or high smooth.  Smoothing out the excess noise around the updraft helped remain focused on the primary portion of the storm.  The warning issued was based on radar data, but I could imagine the Cloud Top Divergence being a helpful tool in warning decisions if radar data wasn’t available. It certainly is a “confidence booster” or a nudger if you’re on the fence for a warning or not. It would be interesting to correlate the CTD (to hail size and possibly wind and/or if a tornado were produced) if given certain thresholds such as the multitude of hail research that has been conducted from radar in recent years.

Below are the three CTD options at 20:29z on May 6, 2025.   There were a pair of updrafts near College Station and were clearly evident on the cloud top divergence.  However, some subtle differences showed up between the smooth and the no smooth options.  In the yellow box, the High Smooth seemed to smooth too much compared to the No Smooth and Medium. Similarly in the black box and next to the black arrow, it seemed to be overly smooth and completely get rid of some features that might evolve into something notable later.

There are very subtle differences, especially between the two smoothed loops, and if given the choice, I’d lean slightly towards the Medium Smooth based on the High Smooth potentially smoothing out some important features and the No Smooth being too harsh on my old eyes.

– Podium