12Z model run on time, 36 balloon reports flagged, satellite sector moved
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.
109 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (12 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 38 in Lower 48, 14 in Mexico, 10 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 UPDATED 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.
36 stations were flagged: 26 sent no usable sounding at all, 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YZT 71109 | Port Hardy A, Mexico · Canada | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temps/moisture 925-913mb...wet bulb effect. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temps/moisture 925-913mb...wet bulb effect |
| MFL 72202 | Miami, 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 |
| LCH 72240 | Lake Charles/Municipal, LA | 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 |
| SHV 72248 | Shreveport/Reg, LA | 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 |
| BRO 72250 | Brownsville/Intl, 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 |
| CRP 72251 | Corpus Christi/Intl, 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 |
| AMA 72363 | Amarillo/INTL, 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 |
| EPZ 72364 | Santa Teresa, 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| TFX 72776 | Great Falls, MT | No weather balloon data from this station reached the NAM run. The GFS run did get a report from it. | No report for the NAM...Full report in for the GFS |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| MAF 72265 | Midland/Midland Reg. Airterm, TX | Ground equipment failure — the receiving, tracking, processing, or other ground system failed. | 10142...Ground equipment failure |
| 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 |
| LZK 72340 | Little Rock/Adams Field, AR | Ground equipment failure — the receiving, tracking, processing, or other ground system failed. | 10142...Ground equipment failure |
| TOP 72456 | Topeka/Municipal, KS | Any reason not listed above — other or unspecified reason. “Unavailable” may appear as free text, but is not the formal definition. | 10159 |
| LKN 72582 | Elko, NV | 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...Ground equipment failure |
| 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 Part TTBB |
Satellite moves MDS STATUS...
Each GOES weather satellite has two “mesoscale sectors” — small, movable windows that the satellite photographs roughly every 60 seconds, far more often than its routine full-disk and continental scans. Forecasters aim them at whatever is most important that day. This section announces where they are being pointed and for how long.
GOES-West is pointing mesoscale sector 2 at a point about 140 mi SSW of Salt Lake City, UT — to support fire weather operations. That means this patch of sky gets a fresh satellite image about once a minute instead of every 5 to 10 minutes, so forecasters can watch storms develop almost in real time.
- Centre point
- 38.8°N, 112.4°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- potential PyroCB over the Widemouth 2 and Black Canyon Fires of Central Utah
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 061524
ADMSDM
SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE
NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD
1523Z THU AUG 06 2026
12Z NWS model production is running on time with 12
Alaskan...26 Canadian...38 CONUS...14 Mexican...10
Caribbean...and 9 Pacific stations available for ingest.
UPDATED 12Z GFS RAOB RECAP...
71109/YZT - Purged temps/moisture 925-913mb...wet bulb
effect
72202/MFL - No report
72240/LCH - No report
72248/SHV - No report
72250/BRO - No report
72251/CRP - No report
72363/AMA - No report
72364/EPZ - 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
72572/SLC - No report
72597/MFR - No report
72645/GRB - 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
72776/TFX - No report for the NAM...Full report in for the
GFS
72786/OTX - No report
74455/DVN - No report
70133/OTZ - 10159
70308/SNP - 10159
72265/MAF - 10142...Ground equipment failure
72274/TWC - 10159
72340/LZK - 10142...Ground equipment failure
72456/TOP - 10159
72582/LKN - 10159
78384/GCM - 10142...Ground equipment failure
78016/BDA - Missing Part TTBB
MDS STATUS...
GOES-W MDS Sector 2 will be centered over 38.8N/112.4W from
1800Z to 07/0600Z in support of potential PyroCB over the
Widemouth 2 and Black Canyon Fires of Central Utah.
Kempisty/SDM/NCO