12Z model run on time, 30 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.
111 weather balloon launches were available to feed this run (13 in Alaska, 25 in Canada, 42 in Lower 48, 12 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 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 12Z run of the GFS.
30 stations were flagged: 26 sent no usable sounding at all, 3 reported a numeric status code, 1 had a balloon burst early. 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 NAM, in for GFS |
| MFL 72202 | Miami, 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 |
| LCH 72240 | Lake Charles/Municipal, LA | 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 |
| SHV 72248 | Shreveport/Reg, LA | 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 |
| BRO 72250 | Brownsville/Intl, TX | 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 |
| CRP 72251 | Corpus Christi/Intl, TX | 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 |
| AMA 72363 | Amarillo/INTL, TX | 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 |
| EPZ 72364 | Santa Teresa, TX | 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 |
| ABQ 72365 | Albuquerque/Intl, NM | 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 |
| FGZ 72376 | Flagstaff, AZ | 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 |
| DDC 72451 | Dodge City/Municipal, KS | 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 |
| GJT 72476 | Grand Junction/Walker Field, CO | 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 |
| OAX 72558 | Valley, NE | 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 |
| LBF 72562 | North Platte/Lee Bird, NE | 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 |
| LKN 72582 | Elko, 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 |
| MFR 72597 | Medford/Medford-Jackson County, OR | 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 |
| ABR 72659 | Aberdeen/Reg, SD | 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 |
| UNR 72662 | Rapid City/Regional Airport, S, SD | 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 |
| RIW 72672 | Riverton, WY | 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 |
| BOI 72681 | Boise/Municipal, ID | 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 |
| CAR 72712 | Caribou/Municipal, ME | 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 |
| BIS 72764 | Bismarck/Municipal, ND | 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 |
| GGW 72768 | Glasgow/Intl, MT | 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 |
| DVN 74455 | Quad City, IA | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| YZT 71109 | Port Hardy A, Mexico · Canada | The balloon burst early. It stopped reporting at 500 mb, so this sounding only covers the lower part of the atmosphere — forecasters and models got no data above roughly 5.6 km (18,500 ft). (500 mb ≈ 5.6 km (18,500 ft)) | Short to 500 mb for NAM, short to 400 mb for GFS, |
Notices & outages
NWS is reporting an operational problem. Some data may be missing, delayed or slow until it is fixed.
For most people this is invisible — forecasts keep coming. It matters most to anyone pulling NWS data directly, and to forecasters who lean on the affected feed.
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 021512 ADMSDM SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST NWS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NWS CENTRAL OPERATIONS COLLEGE PARK MD 1512Z WED SEP 02 2026 The 12Z NWS model production suite continues to run on time with 13 Alaskan, 25 Canadian, 42 CONUS, 12 Mexican, 10 Caribbean and 9 Pacific stations available for ingest. 12Z GFS RAOB RECAP... 70414/SYA - No report for NAM, in for GFS 72202/MFL - No report 72240/LCH - No report 72248/SHV - No report 72250/BRO - No report 72251/CRP - No report 72363/AMA - No report 72364/EPZ - No report 72365/ABQ - No report 72376/FGZ - No report 72451/DDC - No report 72476/GJT - No report 72558/OAX - No report 72562/LBF - No report 72582/LKN - No report 72597/MFR - No report 72645/GRB - No report 72659/ABR - No report 72662/UNR - No report 72672/RIW - No report 72681/BOI - No report 72712/CAR - No report 72764/BIS - No report 72768/GGW - No report 72786/OTX - No report 74455/DVN - No report 70308/SNP - 10159 72274/TWC - 10159 78384/GCM - 10142 71109/YZT - Short to 500 mb for NAM, short to 400 mb for GFS, 10150 72649/MPX - Missing TTBB for NAM, full report in for GFS 78016/BDA - Missing TTBB 76644/MID - Purged wind 1012 to 1010 mb 76644/MID - Purged wind from sfc to 1015 mb 91334/TKK - Purged wind 127 to 119 mb 91334/TKK - Purged wind 140 to 133 mb 91376/MAJ - Purged wind at 113 mb Renkevens/SDM/NCO