Howard,
You are correct. The "TD" mentioned in the AFD is the temperature/dewpoint
gradient. Its not listed in the NWS acronyms and abbreviations
(http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/glossary/acronyms.htm) list, but that is what
is being referred to in this message.
Regards,
Declan


"Icebound" wrote in message
ogers.com...
Howard Goldstein wrote:
In the following AFD snippet the forecasters uss a phrase "BETTER TD
GRAD IS FARTHER NORTH". Are they likely talking about a temp/dewpoint
gradient here or is there another kind of relevant TD gradient?
Thanks in advance for enlightening very much an amateur meteorologist
with questionable qualifications and dubious talent.

**********************
FXUS62 KTBW 260709
AFDTBW

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
205 AM EST WED NOV 26 2003

.CURRENTLY...SFC ANAL SHOWS LEADING EDGE OF FRONTAL BOUNDARY FROM
ABOUT PGD TO VRB. HOWEVER...BETTER TD GRAD IS FARTHER NORTH FROM
TPA TO MCO/ORL. BKN TO OVC LOW CLOUDS N OF TPA...AND SCT-BKN CLOUDS
CENT AND S FA. FOG IS STILL VERY PATCHY...BUT SUSPECT IT WILL GET A
LITTLE MORE WIDESPREAD...ESPEC TPA SOUTH WHERE CLOUDS ARE MORE
SCATTERED.

[...]


Generally, T (alone) is temperature and TD is dewpoint (alone). In
scientific notation it would be T with a subscript lowercase d.

Dewpoint gradient is an important front-locating parameter, and he is
mentioning the discrepancy between where the front has been shown, and
where a significant dewpoint gradient actually exists.