00Z model run on time, 14 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.
131 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (9 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 65 in Lower 48, 14 in Mexico, 8 in Caribbean, 9 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 UPDATED 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.
14 stations were flagged: 4 sent no usable sounding at all, 6 reported a numeric status code, 1 had a balloon burst early, 2 were missing part of the transmission, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| LKN 72582 | Elko, 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 |
| 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 |
| LZK 72340 | Little Rock/Adams Field, AR | The station reported, but part of the sounding transmission was missing — specifically TTAA, the mandatory-levels section that carries the standard pressure levels up to 100 mb. | Missing TTAA/TTBB |
| ABQ 72365 | Albuquerque/Intl, NM | The station reported, but part of the sounding transmission was missing — specifically TTAA, the mandatory-levels section that carries the standard pressure levels up to 100 mb. | Missing TTAA/TTBB |
| ACA 76805 | Acapulco, Mexico · Mexico | The balloon burst early. It stopped reporting at 848 mb, so this sounding only covers the lower part of the atmosphere — forecasters and models got no data above roughly 1.5 km (5,000 ft). (848 mb ≈ 1.5 km (5,000 ft)) | Short to 848 mb |
| DTX 72632 | White Lake, MI | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temps/moisture at 755 mb...super-adiabatic lapse rate. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temps/moisture at 755 mb...super-adiabatic lapse rate |
| 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 |
| AKN 70326 | King Salmon, 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 |
| GCM 78384 | Owen Roberts Airport Grand Cay · Cayman Islands | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
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 080302
ADMSDM
SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE
NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD
0301Z THU OCT 08 2026
The 00Z NWS model production suite is running on time. There were
9 Alaskan...26 Canadian...65 CONUS...14 Mexican...8 Caribbean and
9 Pacific stations available for ingest. In addition, there were
28 dropsondes courtesy of USAF Reserve and NOAA aircraft recon
missions in the vicinity of Isaias.
00Z UPDATED RAOB RECAP...
70414/SYA - No report
72582/LKN - No report
72694/SLE - No report
72786/OTX - No report
72340/LZK - Missing TTAA/TTBB
72365/ABQ - Missing TTAA/TTBB
76805/ACA - Short to 848 mb
72632/DTX - Purged temps/moisture at 755 mb...super-adiabatic
lapse rate
70133/OTZ - 10159
70219/BET - 10159
70308/SNP - 10159
70326/AKN - 10159
72274/TWC - 10159
78384/GCM - 10142
Gerhardt/SDM/NCO