00Z model run on time, 10 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.
130 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (10 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 64 in Lower 48, 14 in Mexico, 7 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 UPDATE 00Z 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 00Z run of the GFS.
10 stations were flagged: 2 sent no usable sounding at all, 7 reported a numeric status code, 1 had a balloon burst early, 1 was missing part of the transmission. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
| BET 70219 | Bethel/Bethel Airport, 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 |
| 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 |
| AKN 70326 | King Salmon, 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| ANN 70398 | Annette Island, AK | The balloon burst early. It stopped reporting at 400 mb, so this sounding only covers the lower part of the atmosphere — forecasters and models got no data above roughly 7.2 km (23,500 ft). This affected the GFS run. (400 mb ≈ 7.2 km (23,500 ft)) unrecognised status code 10141 | Short to 400mb..10141...Full report in for the GFS |
| KWA 91366 | Kwajalein/Bucholz Aaf, Marshal · Marshall Islands | The station reported, but part of the sounding transmission was missing — specifically TTAA, the mandatory-levels section that carries the standard pressure levels up to 100 mb. | Missing TTAA/TTBB |
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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 160314 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0314Z FRI OCT 16 2026 The 00Z NWS model production suite is running on time with 10 Alaskan...26 Canadian...64 CONUS...14 Mexican...7 Caribbean...and 9 Pacific stations available for ingest. UPDATE 00Z GFS RAOB RECAP... 72206/JAX - No report 72786/OTX - No report 70133/OTZ - 10142 70219/BET - 10159 70308/SNP - 10159 70326/AKN - 10159 72274/TWC - 10159 78384/GCM - 10142 70398/ANN - Short to 400mb..10141...Full report in for the GFS 91366/KWA - Missing TTAA/TTBB Kempisty/SDM/NCO