00Z model run on time, 3 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.
122 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (9 in Alaska, 25 in Canada, 61 in Lower 48, 12 in Mexico, 6 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 00Z 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.
3 stations were flagged: 3 sent no usable sounding at all. 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 NAM run. The GFS run did get a report from it. | No report for the NAM...in for the GFS |
| LIX 72233 | Slidell/Mun. La, LA | 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...in for the GFS with parts TTAA/TTBB missing |
| SLC 72572 | Salt Lake City/Intl Ut, UT | 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...in for the GFS |
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 290302
ADMSDM
SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE
NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD
0301Z WED JUL 29 2026
The 00Z GFS began and is running on time with 9 Alaskan...25
Canadian...61 CONUS...12 Mexican...6 Caribbean...and 9 Pacific
raobs available for ingest. There
were also 9 dropsondes available for ingest in the vicinity of
Tropical Storm Fausto.
UPDATED 00Z RAOB RECAP...
70414/SYA - No report for the NAM...in for the GFS
72233/LIX - No report for the NAM...in for the GFS with parts
TTAA/TTBB missing
72572/SLC - No report for the NAM...in for the GFS
Ready/SDM/NCO