00Z model run on time, 17 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.
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.
17 stations were flagged: 6 sent no usable sounding at all, 9 reported a numeric status code, 1 had a balloon burst early, 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 |
| 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 |
| SLC 72572 | Salt Lake City/Intl Ut, UT | 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 |
| 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 | Any reason not listed above — other or unspecified reason. “Unavailable” may appear as free text, but is not the formal definition. | 10159 |
| BET 70219 | Bethel/Bethel Airport, AK | Any reason not listed above — other or unspecified reason. “Unavailable” may appear as free text, but is not the formal definition. | 10159 |
| SNP 70308 | St. Paul Islands, AK | Any reason not listed above — other or unspecified reason. “Unavailable” may appear as free text, but is not the formal definition. | 10159 |
| AKN 70326 | King Salmon, AK | Any reason not listed above — other or unspecified reason. “Unavailable” may appear as free text, but is not the formal definition. | 10159 |
| YAK 70361 | Yakutat, AK | Ground equipment failure — the receiving, tracking, processing, or other ground system failed. | 10142 |
| BMX 72230 | Birmingham, AL | Unfavorable weather conditions — weather conditions prevented or disrupted the sounding. | 10145 |
| TWC 72274 | Tucson, AZ | Any reason not listed above — other or unspecified reason. “Unavailable” may appear as free text, but is not the formal definition. | 10159 |
| GCM 78384 | Owen Roberts Airport Grand Cay · Cayman Islands | Ground equipment failure — the receiving, tracking, processing, or other ground system failed. | 10142 |
| POS 78970 | Piarco Intl, Trinidad · Trinidad and Tobago | Any reason not listed above — other or unspecified reason. “Unavailable” may appear as free text, but is not the formal definition. | 10159 |
| VHA 76743 | Villahermosa, Tab · Mexico | The balloon burst early. It stopped reporting at 537 mb, so this sounding only covers the lower part of the atmosphere — forecasters and models got no data above roughly 5 km (16,500 ft). (537 mb ≈ 5 km (16,500 ft)) | Short to 537.0mb |
| SXM 78866 | Not in our station table | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temp, moist 850 to 831 mb.. super-adiabatic lapse rate. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temp, moist 850 to 831 mb.. super-adiabatic lapse rate. |
Model status
A status note about the current model run.
122 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (8 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 59 in Lower 48, 14 in Mexico, 5 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.
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 220138 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0137Z SAT AUG 22 2026 The 00Z NWS model production has started and is running on time. 00Z NAM RAOB RECAP... 70414/SYA - No report 72206/JAX - No report 72388/VEF - No report 72572/SLC - No report 72645/GRB - No report 72786/OTX - No report 70133/OTZ - 10159 70219/BET - 10159 70308/SNP - 10159 70326/AKN - 10159 70361/YAK - 10142 72230/BMX - 10145 72274/TWC - 10159 78384/GCM - 10142 78970/POS - 10159 76743/VHA - Short to 537.0mb 78866/SXM - Purged temp, moist 850 to 831 mb.. super-adiabatic lapse rate. There were 8 Alaskan...26 Canadian...59 CONUS...14 Mexican... 5 Caribbean and 10 Pacific stations available for ingest. In addition, there were 17 dropsondes courtesy of USAF Reserve and NOAA aircraft recon missions in the vicinity of Tropical Depression 02 in the Central Pacific. Green/SDM/NCO