12Z model run on time, 27 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.
116 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (12 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 48 in Lower 48, 12 in Mexico, 10 in Caribbean, 8 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 12Z GFS 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 of the GFS.
27 stations were flagged: 19 sent no usable sounding at all, 6 reported a numeric status code, 1 was 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANN 70398 | Annette Island, AK | 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 |
| MAF 72265 | Midland/Midland Reg. Airterm, TX | 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 |
| ABQ 72365 | Albuquerque/Intl, NM | 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 |
| FGZ 72376 | Flagstaff, AZ | 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 |
| DDC 72451 | Dodge City/Municipal, KS | 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 |
| GJT 72476 | Grand Junction/Walker Field, CO | 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 |
| OAX 72558 | Valley, NE | 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 |
| LBF 72562 | North Platte/Lee Bird, NE | 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 |
| MFR 72597 | Medford/Medford-Jackson County, 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 |
| ABR 72659 | Aberdeen/Reg, SD | 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 |
| UNR 72662 | Rapid City/Regional Airport, S, SD | 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 |
| RIW 72672 | Riverton, WY | 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 |
| BOI 72681 | Boise/Municipal, ID | 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 |
| CAR 72712 | Caribou/Municipal, ME | 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 |
| BIS 72764 | Bismarck/Municipal, ND | 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 |
| GGW 72768 | Glasgow/Intl, MT | 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 |
| DVN 74455 | Quad City, IA | 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 |
| 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 |
| SYA 70414 | Shemya AFB, AK | The station reported status code 10145. 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 10145 | 10145 |
| 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 |
| VEF 72388 | Las Vegas, NV | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
| 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 |
| LIH 91165 | Lihue, Kauai, HI | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
| BDA 78016 | L F Wade Intl · Bermuda | The station reported, but part of the sounding transmission was missing — specifically TTBB, the "significant levels" section that carries the extra detail between the standard pressure levels. | Missing TTBB |
| CUR 78988 | Not in our station table | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temp, moist at 608 mb, wetbulb effect. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temp, moist at 608 mb, wetbulb effect |
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 071544 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 1543Z WED OCT 07 2026 The 12Z NWS model production continues to run on time with 12 Alaskan, 26 Canadian, 48 CONUS, 12 Mexican, 10 Caribbean, and 8 Pacific stations available for ingest. There were 7 dropsondes courtesy of USAF Reserve aircraft recon missions in the vicinity of Isaias in the Gulf. 12Z GFS RAOB RECAP... 70398/ANN - No report for NAM, in for GFS 72265/MAF - No report 72365/ABQ - No report 72376/FGZ - No report 72451/DDC - No report 72476/GJT - No report 72558/OAX - No report 72562/LBF - No report 72582/LKN - No report 72597/MFR - No report 72659/ABR - No report 72662/UNR - No report 72672/RIW - No report 72681/BOI - No report 72712/CAR - No report 72764/BIS - No report 72768/GGW - No report 72786/OTX - No report 74455/DVN - No report 70308/SNP - 10159 70414/SYA - 10145 72274/TWC - 10159 72388/VEF - 10142 78384/GCM - 10142 91165/LIH - 10142 78016/BDA - Missing TTBB 78988/CUR - Purged temp, moist at 608 mb, wetbulb effect Renkevens/SDM/NCO