00Z model run on time, 16 balloon reports flagged, 2 satellite sectors moved
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.
124 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (9 in Alaska, 25 in Canada, 61 in Lower 48, 12 in Mexico, 8 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 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.
16 stations were flagged: 5 sent no usable sounding at all, 9 reported a numeric status code, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OAX 72558 | Valley, NE | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temps/moisture 700-687mb...wet bulb effect. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temps/moisture 700-687mb...wet bulb effect |
| SLC 72572 | Salt Lake City/Intl Ut, UT | Quality control removed part of this sounding before it reached the models: temps/moisture 422mb...wet bulb effect. The rest of the sounding was still used. | Purged temps/moisture 422mb...wet bulb effect |
| ADQ 70350 | Kodiak, 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 |
| 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 | 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 |
| 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 |
| BRO 72250 | Brownsville/Intl, TX | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142...Ground equipment failure |
| 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 |
| CUU 76225 | Not in our station table | The station reported status code 10158. 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 10158 | 10158...Flight equipment failure |
| 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...Ground equipment failure |
| KWA 91366 | Kwajalein/Bucholz Aaf, Marshal · Marshall Islands | 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 |
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-East is pointing mesoscale sector 1 at a point about 120 mi N of Wichita, KS — to support severe thunderstorm and tornado forecasting. 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
- 39.4°N, 97.2°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- severe wx ops in the Central Plains and a radar outage at WFO Goodland, KS
GOES-East is pointing mesoscale sector 2 over 1.2°S, 78.6°W — to support severe thunderstorm and tornado forecasting. 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
- 1.2°S, 78.6°W view on map
- Window
- from until
- Reason given
- an international request for severe wx ops associated with El Nino in Ecuador
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 140312 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0311Z MON SEP 14 2026 00Z NWS model production is running on time with 9 Alaskan...25 Canadian...61 CONUS...12 Mexican...8 Caribbean...and 9 Pacific stations available for ingest. UPDATED 00Z GFS RAOB RECAP... 72558/OAX - Purged temps/moisture 700-687mb...wet bulb effect 72572/SLC - Purged temps/moisture 422mb...wet bulb effect 70350/ADQ - No report 72206/JAX - No report 72388/VEF - No report 72645/GRB - No report 72786/OTX - No report 70133/OTZ - 10159 70219/BET - 10159 70308/SNP - 10159 70326/AKN - 10159 72250/BRO - 10142...Ground equipment failure 72274/TWC - 10159 76225/CUU - 10158...Flight equipment failure 78384/GCM - 10142...Ground equipment failure 91366/KWA - 10159 MDS STATUS... GOES-E MDS Sector 1 will be centered over 39.4N/97.2W from 1200Z to 15/1200Z in support of severe wx ops in the Central Plains and a radar outage at WFO Goodland, KS (GLD). GOES-E MDS Sector 2 will be centered over 1.2S/78.6W from 2100Z to 15/2100Z in support of an international request for severe wx ops associated with El Nino in Ecuador. Kempisty/SDM/NCO