733
NOUS41 KWBC 221745 AAA
PNSWSH
SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 25-51 UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS SILVER SPRING MD
145 PM EDT FRI AUG 22 2025
TO: SUBSCRIBERS:
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
-NOAAPORT
OTHER NWS PARTNERS, USERS AND EMPLOYEES
FROM: DAVE MICHAUD
DIRECTOR, NCEP CENTRAL OPERATIONS
SUBJECT: UPDATED: UPDATE FOR OBSPROC OBSERVATION PROCESSING FOR
GFS, GDAS AND NAM EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, BEGINNING WITH THE 1200 COORDINATED
UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC) MODEL DISTRIBUTION, THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE WILL UPDATE OBSERVATION PROCESSING (OBSPROC). IN THE
EVENT THE IMPLEMENTATION DATE IS DECLARED A CRITICAL WEATHER DAY
(CWD), AN ENHANCED CAUTION EVENT (ECE), OR OTHER SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER IS OCCURRING OR IS ANTICIPATED TO OCCUR, IMPLEMENTATION
OF THIS CHANGE WILL TAKE PLACE AT 1200 UTC ON THE NEXT WEEKDAY
NOT DECLARED A CWD AND WHEN NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IS OCCURRING.
CHANGES TO DATA PRODUCTS WITH THIS UPGRADE INCLUDE:
(1) AN UPGRADE TO THE OBSERVATION PROCESSING (OBSPROC) SOFTWARE
PACKAGE TO INCLUDE SYNOPTIC SURFACE OBSERVATIONS OF SNOW IN NEW
GLOBAL (GFS AND GDAS) *SFCSNO* BINARY UNIVERSAL FORM FOR THE
REPRESENTATION OF METEOROLOGICAL DATA (BUFR) DUMP FILES.
THE NCEP AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING SURFACE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
ARE CURRENTLY STORED IN THE *ADPSFC* BUFR DUMPS (PRIORITIZING
THE BUFR FORMATTED MESSAGES OVER THE TAC WHEN BOTH ARE
AVAILABLE), AND NOW IN THE *SFCSNO* DUMPS REPORTS WHERE SNOW
INFORMATION WOULD BE GIVEN PRECEDENCE OVER REPORTS WITHOUT SNOW
INFORMATION (REGARDLESS OF TAC OR BUFR FORMATTING).
(2) AN UPGRADE TO THE OBSERVATION PROCESSING (OBSPROC) SOFTWARE
PACKAGE TO INCLUDE SYNOPTIC SURFACE OBSERVATIONS OF SEA SURFACE
TEMPERATURE CLEAR AND OVER WATER IN NEW GLOBAL (GFS AND GDAS)
*SSTVCW* BINARY UNIVERSAL FORM FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF
METEOROLOGICAL DATA (BUFR) DUMP FILES.
(3) REMOVE THE INDIAN NATIONAL SATELLITE SYSTEM (INSAT) DERIVED
SATELLITE WINDS (AKA AMV)FROM GLOBAL (GFS AND GDAS) *SATWND*
BUFR DUMP FILES. THIS CHANGE DOES NOT IMPACT GFS AND GDAS DATA
ASSIMILATION SYSTEMS AS THE INSAT AMVS WERE NOT ASSIMILATED.
(4) REMOVE THE CONUS SATELLITE WINDS (AKA AMV)FROM GLOBAL (GFS
AND GDAS) *SATWHR* (BUFR) DUMP FILES. THIS CHANGE DOES NOT
IMPACT GFS AND GDAS AS THESE AMVS WERE NOT ASSIMILATED.
(5) CORRECT THE TIMING OF THE CREATION OF THE FOLLOWING
UNRESTRICTED NAM PREPBUFR FILES:
NAM.T00Z.PREPBUFR.TM02.NR
NAM.T00Z.PREPBUFR.TM03.NR
NAM.T00Z.PREPBUFR.TM04.NR
NAM.T00Z.PREPBUFR.TM05.NR
NAM.T00Z.PREPBUFR.TM06.NR
THESE FILES WERE PREVIOUSLY CREATED 24 HOURS LATE. THEY WILL
NOW BE CREATED ON TIME.
THESE UPDATES WILL BE AVAILABLE UNDER THE CORRESPONDING MODEL
SUBDIRECTORY:
HTTPS://NOMADS.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PUB/DATA/NCCF/COM/OBSPROC/PROD/
FTP://FTPPRD.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/DATA/NCCF/COM/OBSPROC/PROD/
(1) ADDED NEW DUMP FILES:
GFS AND GDAS *SFCSNO.TM00.BUFR_D.NR
(2) ADDED NEW DUMP FILES:
GFS AND GDAS *SSTVCW.TM00.BUFR_D
(3) UPDATED CONTENTS IN DUMP FILES:
GFS AND GDAS *SATWND.TM00.BUFR_D
(4) UPDATED CONTENTS IN DUMP FILES:
GFS AND GDAS *SATWHR.TM00.BUFR_D
ALL OF THE ABOVE UPDATED BUFR DUMP FILES WILL BE GENERATED AT
THE TEMPORAL FREQUENCY OF THE EXISTING OBSERVATIONAL PRODUCTS.
NCEP ENCOURAGES USERS TO ENSURE THEIR PROCESSING IS FLEXIBLE TO
ADEQUATELY HANDLE THE NEW DATA. EVEN THOUGH CONTENT WITHIN THE
*SATWND* AND *SATWHR* FILES HAVE CHANGED, DOWNSTREAM FILE
READERS SHOULD NOT NEED TO CHANGE IN RESPONSE.
FOR ANY COMMENTS/FEEDBACK ON THE BUFR DUMP FILE UPGRADE AT THE
ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING CENTER (EMC), PLEASE CONTACT:
DR. DARYL KLEIST
CHIEF, DATA ASSIMILATION AND QUALITY CONTROL GROUP
NCEP ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING CENTER
COLLEGE PARK, MD
EMAIL: DARYL.KLEIST@NOAA.GOV OR OBSPROC_SUPPORT@NOAA.GOV
FOR QUESTIONS REGARDING THE DATAFLOW ASPECTS, PLEASE CONTACT:
MARGARET CURTIS
NCEP CENTRAL OPERATIONS DATAFLOW TEAM
NCEP.PMB.DATAFLOW@NOAA.GOV
NATIONAL SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE ONLINE AT:
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NOTIFICATION
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.
Main Text Page