Model Terrain Versus Reality

I was looking back at a high downslope wind event from last Thursday (3 Jan) and began wondering if we are looking for mountain-top inversions at too high an altitude [b]in the model data[/b]? We typically look for inversions around 700 to 600 MB, above our highest mountains to the west of Reno. The mountain tops immediately west/southwest of Reno are at about 730-700 MB in the real-world, however in the various models they are quite a bit lower based on what I am seeing in AWIPS: GFS 810-800 MB, NAM12 790-780 MB, and a local WRF (8km) 770-780 MB.

So, is it reasonable to along with looking for inversions at the normal levels (~600-700mb), it might be good to also check lower levels (i.e. 750 MB) in the model forecasts closer to the model terrain surfaces? I welcome any thoughts on this!

Either way, this brings up an important point for forecasters to always keep in mind how a particular model replicates terrain features and how those might affect the fields (and levels) you are looking at.