00Z model run on time, 2 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.
126 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (10 in Alaska, 26 in Canada, 63 in Lower 48, 13 in Mexico, 5 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.
2 stations were flagged: 1 sent no usable sounding at all, 1 reported a numeric status code. 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 |
| GCM 78384 | Owen Roberts Airport Grand Cay · Cayman Islands | Ground equipment failure — the receiving, tracking, processing, or other ground system failed. | 10142 |
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 210302 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 0302Z FRI AUG 21 2026 The 00Z GFS began and is running on time with 10 Alaskan...26 Canadian...63 CONUS...13 Mexican...5 Caribbean...and 9 Pacific raobs available for ingest. UPDATED 00Z RAOB RECAP... 70414/SYA - No report for the NAM...in for the GFS 78384/GCM - 10142 Ready/SDM/NCO