00Z model run on time, 2 balloon reports flagged
Model status
NWS is producing the 00Z model run on schedule. Forecast model output should reach forecasters, apps and websites at the usual times.
“00Z” is the run’s start time in UTC. NWS runs its main models four times a day — 00Z, 06Z, 12Z and 18Z — and each run begins by digesting a global snapshot of current conditions taken at that hour.
129 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (10 in Alaska, 25 in Canada, 63 in Lower 48, 13 in Mexico, 8 in Caribbean, 10 in Pacific). “Stations available for ingest” means balloon soundings that arrived in time to be folded into the model’s starting picture of the atmosphere. Twice a day, sites across North America release balloons that measure temperature, humidity, pressure and wind all the way up. More stations reporting means a better-anchored starting point for the GFS.
Balloon reports UPDATED 00Z RAOB RECAP...
Twice a day, NWS and partner agencies release weather balloons that carry a radiosonde — a small instrument package that radios back temperature, humidity, pressure and wind as it climbs. Those soundings are one of the main ingredients in a forecast model’s starting conditions. This section is the roll call of stations that had a problem for the 00Z run.
2 stations were flagged: 1 sent no usable sounding at all, 1 reported a numeric status code. A handful of gaps is normal and is not by itself a sign of a forecast problem — the models are built to work with an incomplete picture.
| Station | Where | What happened | As printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRP 72251 | Corpus Christi/Intl, TX | No weather balloon data from this station reached the NAM run. The GFS run did get a report from it. | No report for NAM..in for GFS |
| YAK 70361 | Yakutat, AK | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. The GFS run still got a usable report from this station. | 10142 for NAM..full report in for GFS |
Show the original message
Exactly as NWS transmitted it. Everything above is our plain-English reading of this text — if the two ever disagree, this is the authoritative version.
000 NOUS42 KWNO 040317 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0316Z SUN OCT 04 2026 The 00Z NWS model production suite continues to run on time with 10 Alaskan..25 Canadian..63 CONUS..13 Mexican..8 Caribbean..and 10 Pacific stations available for ingest into the 00Z GFS. UPDATED 00Z RAOB RECAP... 72251/CRP - No report for NAM..in for GFS 70361/YAK - 10142 for NAM..full report in for GFS Churchill/SDM/NCO