00Z model run on time, 16 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.
125 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (9 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 58 in Lower 48, 15 in Mexico, 7 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.
Balloon reports 00Z NAM 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 of the NAM.
16 stations were flagged: 7 sent no usable sounding at all, 6 reported a numeric status code, 3 had bad data removed by quality control. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YAK 70361 | Yakutat, AK | No weather balloon data from this station reached the model for this cycle — either no launch happened or the data did not arrive in time. | No report |
| SYA 70414 | Shemya AFB, AK | No weather balloon data from this station reached the model for this cycle — either no launch happened or the data did not arrive in time. | No report |
| JAX 72206 | Jacksonville/Intl, FL | No weather balloon data from this station reached the model for this cycle — either no launch happened or the data did not arrive in time. | No report |
| VEF 72388 | Las Vegas, NV | No weather balloon data from this station reached the model for this cycle — either no launch happened or the data did not arrive in time. | No report |
| GRB 72645 | Green Bay/A.-Straubel, WI | No weather balloon data from this station reached the model for this cycle — either no launch happened or the data did not arrive in time. | No report |
| SLE 72694 | Salem/Mcnary, OR | No weather balloon data from this station reached the model for this cycle — either no launch happened or the data did not arrive in time. | No report |
| OTX 72786 | Spokane, WA | No weather balloon data from this station reached the model for this cycle — either no launch happened or the data did not arrive in time. | No report |
| OTZ 70133 | Kotzebue, Ralph Wien, AK | The station reported status code 10159. NWS does not publish a public legend for these codes, so we will not guess at what it means — it signals some problem with the launch or the data. unrecognised status code 10159 | 10159 |
| BET 70219 | Bethel/Bethel Airport, AK | The station reported status code 10159. NWS does not publish a public legend for these codes, so we will not guess at what it means — it signals some problem with the launch or the data. unrecognised status code 10159 | 10159 |
| SNP 70308 | St. Paul Islands, AK | The station reported status code 10159. NWS does not publish a public legend for these codes, so we will not guess at what it means — it signals some problem with the launch or the data. unrecognised status code 10159 | 10159 |
| TWC 72274 | Tucson, AZ | The station reported status code 10159. NWS does not publish a public legend for these codes, so we will not guess at what it means — it signals some problem with the launch or the data. unrecognised status code 10159 | 10159 |
| OHX 72327 | Nashville/Metropolitan, TN | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
| OAK 72493 | Oakland/Metrop. Oakland Intl, CA | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
| ABQ 72365 | Albuquerque/Intl, NM | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temp, moist 416 to 401 mb, super-adiabatic lapse rate. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temp, moist 416 to 401 mb, super-adiabatic lapse rate |
| KWA 91366 | Kwajalein/Bucholz Aaf, Marshal · Marshall Islands | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: spurious winds 851 to 846 mb. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged spurious winds 851 to 846 mb |
| KWA 91366 | Kwajalein/Bucholz Aaf, Marshal · Marshall Islands | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: spurious winds 980 to 978 mb. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged spurious winds 980 to 978 mb |
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 300136 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0135Z WED SEP 30 2026 The 00Z NWS model production suite began and is running on time with 9 Alaskan, 26 Canadian, 58 CONUS, 15 Mexican, 7 Caribbean, and 10 Pacific stations available for ingest. 00Z NAM RAOB RECAP... 70361/YAK - No report 70414/SYA - No report 72206/JAX - No report 72388/VEF - No report 72645/GRB - No report 72694/SLE - No report 72786/OTX - No report 70133/OTZ - 10159 70219/BET - 10159 70308/SNP - 10159 72274/TWC - 10159 72327/OHX - 10142 72493/OAK - 10142 72365/ABQ - Purged temp, moist 416 to 401 mb, super-adiabatic lapse rate 91366/KWA - Purged spurious winds 851 to 846 mb 91366/KWA - Purged spurious winds 980 to 978 mb Renkevens/SDM/NCO