moving error checking further down so it does not get executed if not needed
moving error checking further down
so it does not get executed if not needed

altMITgcm/MITgcm66h,altMITgcm/MITgcm66h,altMITgcm/MITgcm66h,altMITgcm/MITgcm66h,altMITgcm/MITgcm66h,altMITgcm/MITgcm66h,altMITgcm/MITgcm66h,altMITgcm/MITgcm66h