PAPERS OF NOTE.

The article assesses the usefulness of synthetic vortex insertion prior to the extratropical transition of hurricanes. Significant improvements in the wind and precipitation patterns within the storm at landfall were observed in the atmospheric model with vortex insertion employed in the initial conditions. The numerical hindcasts employing the technique resolved a particular forecast dilemma involving interaction of Hurricane Michael with a preexisting area of low pressure to its north. Operational forecast models at the time had incorrectly developed the northern low at the expense of the hurricane, while the opposite occurred in reality and in the numerical simulations run in hindcast mode.