The First Hybrid NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Forecasting Experiment for Advancing Severe Weather Prediction Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

After three years of fully virtual experiments, the 2023 NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Forecasting Experiment (SFE 2023) resumed in a hybrid format, with 50 of 127 participants contributing remotely. The hybrid format is ideal because virtual participation engages those unable to attend physically, while in-person participation enables science-based discussions and establishing new collaborations, thus expanding the SFE scope in the number and diversity of participants. SFEs, co-led by the NWS/Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and OAR/National Severe Storm Laboratory (NSSL), aim to accelerate research-to-operations (R2O) by testing new prediction capabilities, studying how end-users apply and interpret severe weather guidance, and conducting numerous model evaluations. SFE 2023 results have particular importance as NOAA’s Unified Forecast System (UFS) initiative moves forward with the Rapid Refresh Forecast System (RRFS), NOAA’s first formally designed convection-allowing model (CAM) ensemble, which is scheduled for operational implementation in 2025. Grant no. NA21OAR4320204