Hurricane Opal
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Three-dimensional view of Hurricane Opal in the central Gulf of Mexico
southwest of Pensacola, Florida on the evening of October 3rd, 1995.
Results were obtained from a 22-hour forecast made using the dynamical
hurricane prediction system developed at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid
Dynamic Laboratory (GFDL).

Winds in excess of gale force are indicated by the red and white arrows
at the surface and top of the storm, respectively.  The color shading
at the earth's surface represents the precipitation rate, with red
indicating higher intensities.  Note the  precipitation-free area in
the center of the storm, which denotes the eye.  The grey
three-dimensional "cloud-like" feature is the 88% relative humidity
surface, cut away on its southern side to reveal the hurricane's
interior structure. The horizontal plane slicing through the middle of
the storm indicates the upward motion in the storm's interior.  The
region shaded in white indicates the area of strongest upward motion.
This depicts the storm's strongest convective regions. The GFDL
Hurricane Prediction System was adopted as the official operational
hurricane prediction model at the National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (formerly the National Meteorological Center) starting with
the 1995 hurricane season.

GFDL is a government research laboratory in NOAA's Office of Oceanic
and Atmospheric Research. GFDL's research goal is to expand the
scientific understanding of physical processes that govern the behavior
of the oceans and atmosphere.  Its practical goal is to improve
predictive skill for weather and climate in a wide variety of areas.
The GFDL hurricane forecasting system is one such example.