ACME is investing in the use of low resolution global models with regional refinement as economical modeling framework that is potentially useful for understanding the behavior of a high-resolution global model in the region with refinement. In the first part of this work, we test this notion by comparing simulations of the ACME regionally-refined model with 1/8i latitude-longitude regional refinement over North America to simulations of globally uniform 1/8i resolution model. The focus is on characteristics of warm season precipitation. In the second part of the work, we analyze the simulation of precipitation characteristics in a nudged regionally-refined model. Nudging to analysis data over the coarse-resolution portion of the grid facilitates comparison to observations collected at the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program site in Oklahoma. Results indicate some improvement to diurnal cycle and propagation characteristics of intense precipitation when the deep convection scheme is shut off.