12Z model run on time, 3 balloon reports flagged
Model status
NWS is producing the 12Z model run on schedule. Forecast model output should reach forecasters, apps and websites at the usual times.
“12Z” 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.
108 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (12 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 40 in Lower 48, 12 in Mexico, 9 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 for the GFS.
Balloon reports UPDATED 12Z 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 12Z run.
3 stations were flagged: 1 sent no usable sounding at all, 2 reported a numeric status code, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRW 70026 | Barrow/W. Post W. Rogers, AK | Ground equipment failure — the receiving, tracking, processing, or other ground system failed. | No report for the NAM...10142 for the GFS |
| TKK 91334 | Truk/Caroline Is · Micronesia | Observation delayed — the observation was delayed. The GFS run still got a usable report from this station. | 10143 for the NAM...full report in for the GFS |
| VBG 72393 | Vandenberg AFB, CA | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temps/moisture at 881 mb...super-adiabatic lapse rate. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temps/moisture at 881 mb...super-adiabatic lapse rate |
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 141503
ADMSDM
SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE
NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD
1503Z FRI AUG 14 2026
The 12Z GFS began and is running on time with 12 Alaskan...26
Canadian...40 CONUS...12 Mexican...9 Caribbean...and 9 Pacific
raobs available for ingest.
UPDATED 12Z RAOB RECAP...
70026/BRW - No report for the NAM...10142 for the GFS
91334/TKK - 10143 for the NAM...full report in for the GFS
72393/VBG - Purged temps/moisture at 881 mb...super-adiabatic
lapse rate
Ready/SDM/NCO