Table of Available Diagnostics

Variable Name Description Available Units Additional Keyword Arguments
avo Absolute Vorticity 10-5 s-1  
eth/theta_e Equivalent Potential Temperature

K

degC

degF

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘K’.
cape_2d 2D CAPE (MCAPE/MCIN/LCL/LFC) J kg-1 ; J kg-1 ; m ; m missing (float): Fill value for output only
cape_3d 3D CAPE and CIN J kg-1 missing (float): Fill value for output only
ctt Cloud Top Temperature

degC

K

degF

fill_nocloud (boolean): Set to True to use fill values for cloud free regions rather than surface temperature. Default is False.

missing (float): The fill value to use when fill_nocloud is True.

opt_thresh (float): The optical depth required to trigger the cloud top temperature calculation. Default is 1.0.

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘degC’.

cloudfrac Cloud Fraction %

vert_type (str): The vertical coordinate type for the cloud thresholds. Must be ‘height_agl’, ‘height_msl’, or ‘pres’. Default is ‘height_agl’.

low_thresh (float): The low cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 300 m (97000 Pa)

mid_thresh (float): The mid cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 2000 m (80000 Pa)

high_thresh (float): The high cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 6000 m (45000 Pa)

dbz Reflectivity dBZ

do_variant (boolean): Set to True to enable variant calculation. Default is False.

do_liqskin (boolean): Set to True to enable liquid skin calculation. Default is False.

mdbz Maximum Reflectivity dBZ

do_variant (boolean): Set to True to enable variant calculation. Default is False.

do_liqskin (boolean): Set to True to enable liquid skin calculation. Default is False.

geopt/geopotential Geopotential for the Mass Grid m2 s-2  
geopt_stag Geopotential for the Vertically Staggered Grid m2 s-2  
helicity Storm Relative Helicity m2 s-2 top (float): The top level for the calculation in meters. Default is 3000.0.
lat Latitude decimal degrees  
lon Longitude decimal degrees  
omg/omega Omega Pa s-1  
p/pres

Full Model Pressure

(in specified units)

Pa

hPa

mb

torr

mmhg

atm

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘Pa’.
pressure Full Model Pressure (hPa) hPa  
pvo Potential Vorticity PVU  
pw Precipitable Water kg m-2  
rh Relative Humidity %  
rh2 2m Relative Humidity %  
slp Sea Level Pressure

hPa

hPa

mb

torr

mmhg

atm

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘hPa’.
T2 2m Temperature K  
ter Model Terrain Height

m

km

dm

ft

mi

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m’.
td2 2m Dew Point Temperature

degC

K

degF

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘degC’.
td Dew Point Temperature

degC

K

degF

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘degC’.
tc Temperature in Celsius degC  
th/theta Potential Temperature

K

degC

degF

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘K’.
temp Temperature (in specified units)

K

degC

degF

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘K’.
tk Temperature in Kelvin K  
times Times in the File or Sequence    
xtimes

XTIME Coordinate

(if applicable)

minutes since

start of

model run

 
tv Virtual Temperature

K

degC

degF

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘K’.
twb Wet Bulb Temperature

K

degC

degF

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘K’.
updraft_helicity Updraft Helicity m2 s-2

bottom (float): The bottom level for the calculation in meters. Default is 2000.0.

top (float): The top level for the calculation in meters. Default is 5000.0.

ua U-component of Wind on Mass Points

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
va V-component of Wind on Mass Points

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
wa W-component of Wind on Mass Points

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
uvmet10

10 m U and V Components of Wind

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
uvmet

U and V Components of Wind

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
wspd_wdir

Wind Speed and Direction (wind_from_direction)

in Grid Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
wspd_wdir10

10m Wind Speed and Direction (wind_from_direction)

in Grid Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
uvmet_wspd_wdir

Wind Speed and Direction (wind_from_direction)

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
uvmet10_wspd_wdir

10m Wind Speed and Direction (wind_from_direction)

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
z/height Model Height for Mass Grid

m

km

dm

ft

mi

msl (boolean): Set to False to return AGL values. True is for MSL. Default is True.

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m’.

height_agl Model Height for Mass Grid (AGL)

m

km

dm

ft

mi

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m’.
zstag Model Height for Vertically Staggered Grid

m

km

dm

ft

mi

msl (boolean): Set to False to return AGL values. True is for MSL. Default is True.

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m’.

Table of Subproduct Diagnostics

Some diagnostics (e.g. cape_2d) include multiple products in its output. These products have been broken out in to individual diagnostics to help those utilities that are unable to work with multiple outputs. These individual diagnostics can be requested like any other diagnostic using wrf.getvar(). These are summarized in the table below.

Variable Name Calculated From Description Available Units Additional Keyword Arguments
mcape cape_2d 2D Max CAPE J kg-1 missing (float): Fill value for output only
mcin cape_2d 2D Max CIN J kg-1 missing (float): Fill value for output only
lcl cape_2d 2D Lifted Condensation Level J kg-1 missing (float): Fill value for output only
lfc cape_2d 2D Level of Free Convection J kg-1 missing (float): Fill value for output only
cape3d_only cape_3d 3D CAPE J kg-1 missing (float): Fill value for output only
cin3d_only cape_3d 3D CIN J kg-1 missing (float): Fill value for output only
low_cloudfrac cloudfrac Cloud Fraction for Low Clouds %

vert_type (str): The vertical coordinate type for the cloud thresholds. Must be ‘height_agl’, ‘height_msl’, or ‘pres’. Default is ‘height_agl’.

low_thresh (float): The low cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 300 m (97000 Pa)

mid_thresh (float): The mid cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 2000 m (80000 Pa)

high_thresh (float): The high cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 6000 m (45000 Pa)

mid_cloudfrac cloudfrac Cloud Fraction for Mid Clouds %

vert_type (str): The vertical coordinate type for the cloud thresholds. Must be ‘height_agl’, ‘height_msl’, or ‘pres’. Default is ‘height_agl’.

low_thresh (float): The low cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 300 m (97000 Pa)

mid_thresh (float): The mid cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 2000 m (80000 Pa)

high_thresh (float): The high cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 6000 m (45000 Pa)

high_cloudfrac cloudfrac Cloud Fraction for High Clouds %

vert_type (str): The vertical coordinate type for the cloud thresholds. Must be ‘height_agl’, ‘height_msl’, or ‘pres’. Default is ‘height_agl’.

low_thresh (float): The low cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 300 m (97000 Pa)

mid_thresh (float): The mid cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 2000 m (80000 Pa)

high_thresh (float): The high cloud threshold (meters for ‘height_agl’ and ‘height_msl’, pascals for ‘pres’). Default is 6000 m (45000 Pa)

uvmet_wspd uvmet_wspd_wdir

Wind Speed

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
uvmet_wdir uvmet_wspd_wdir

Wind Direction (wind_from_direction)

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
uvmet10_wspd uvmet10_wspd_wdir

10m Wind Speed

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
uvmet10_wdir uvmet10_wspd_wdir

10m Wind Direction (wind_from_direction)

Rotated to Earth Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
wspd wspd_wdir

Wind Speed

in Grid Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
wdir wspd_wdir

Wind Direction (wind_from_direction)

in Grid Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
wspd10 wspd_wdir10

10m Wind Speed

in Grid Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.
wdir10 wspd_wdir10

10m Wind Direction (wind_from_direction)

in Grid Coordinates

m s-1

km h-1

mi h-1

kt

ft s-1

units (str) : Set to desired units. Default is ‘m s-1’.