How Well Does 4‐km WRF Model Predict Three‐Dimensional Reflectivity Structure Over China as Compared to Radar Observations?

Abstract The performance of 4‐km Weather Research and Forecasting model in predicting reflectivity structure in China over three summer months is investigated using three‐dimensional (3D) reflectivity observations. Three verification domains, namely Southern China (SC), Central and Eastern China , and North China, that correspond to the three major rainfall centers of mainland China are selected. Results show that the forecasts reproduce the distribution and diurnal variation of precipitation well, but significant differences exist in the vertical distributions of the predicted and observed reflectivities. In observations, the highest frequency (of reflectivity ≥35 dBZ) occurs between 3 and 6 km, whereas it is at the surface in the forecast. The forecasts tend to over‐predict reflectivity intensity at the lower levels, especially in SC. Further evaluation using object‐based verification methods show that the forecasts greatly underestimate the afternoon peak frequency of precipitation clouds with reflectivity >30 dBZ. The forecasts fail to reproduce the diurnal variation of 35 dBZ mean and maximum height of the objects, producing less variation than observations. Analyses show that the failure in properly reproducing small‐scale reflectivity objects (with diameter <100 km) is primarily responsible for the underestimation of the mean and maximum object heights. Evaluation using additional 3D information show that the forecasts tend to produce a greater proportion of faster‐moving small‐scale objects. This study reveals that the simulation of the 3D structure of precipitation clouds in terms of reflectivity remains a great challenge, especially for smaller convective cells.