12Z model run on time, 7 balloon reports flagged
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.
136 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (12 in Alaska, 25 in Canada, 67 in Lower 48, 13 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 12Z 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.
7 stations were flagged: 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| ANN 70398 | Annette Island, AK | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
| 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 |
| MTY 76394 | Aeropuerto Intl Monterrey · Mexico | Ground equipment failure — the station’s tracking/receiving equipment was down, so no usable sounding was produced. | 10142 |
| 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 |
| RNK 72318 | Blacksburg, VA | The balloon burst early. It stopped reporting at 414 mb, so this sounding only covers the lower part of the atmosphere — forecasters and models got no data above roughly 6.9 km (23,000 ft). (414 mb ≈ 6.9 km (23,000 ft)) unrecognised status code 10141 | Short to 414.0mb...10141 |
| 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 TTBB |
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 061500 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 1500Z FRI NOV 06 2026 The 12Z NWS model production suite is currently running on time. There were 12 Alaskan...25 Canadian...67 CONUS...13 Mexican...10 Caribbean and 9 Pacific stations available for ingest. 12Z RAOB RECAP... 70308/SNP - 10159 70398/ANN - 10142 72274/TWC - 10159 76394/MTY - 10142 78384/GCM - 10142 72318/RNK - Short to 414.0mb...10141 78016/BDA - Missing TTBB Gerhardt/SDM/NCO