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NOUS41 KWBC 161345
PNSWSH
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT 26-30
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS SILVER SPRING MD
945 AM EDT THU APR 16 2026
TO: SUBSCRIBERS:
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
-NOAAPORT
OTHER NWS PARTNERS, USERS AND EMPLOYEES
FROM: JASON LEVIT
BRANCH CHIEF
VERIFICATION, POST-PROCESSING, AND PRODUCT GENERATION
NCEP/ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING CENTER
SUBJECT: SOLICITING PUBLIC COMMENTS THROUGH MAY 16, 2026, ON
THE TERMINATION OF VARIOUS PRODUCTS FROM THE GLOBAL FORECAST
SYSTEM
THE NWS ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING CENTER (EMC) IS SEEKING COMMENTS
UNTIL MAY 16, 2026, ON THE PROPOSED TERMINATION OF VARIOUS
PRODUCTS FROM THE GLOBAL FORECAST SYSTEM.
VERSION 17 OF THE GLOBAL FORECAST SYSTEM (GFS) IS CURRENTLY IN
ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT AND EMC HAS IDENTIFIED SEVERAL LEGACY
PRODUCTS THAT ARE SLATED TO BE REMOVED WHEN VERSION 17 IS
IMPLEMENTED INTO REAL-TIME OPERATIONS IN THE FUTURE.
THE LIST OF GFS PRODUCTS PROPOSED TO BE REMOVED FROM THE
SCHEDULE OF TRANSMISSIONS TO EXTERNAL DATABASES (NOMADS, SBN,
ETC.) IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VERSION 17 ARE
PROVIDED BELOW:
POST-PROCESSED GRIB2 FILES:
- SYNTHETIC NADIR ABI GOES-R IN FOLLOWING FILES:
- GFS.T{CC}Z.SPECIAL.GRIB2F{FFF}
- GFS.T{CC}Z.GOESSIMPGRB2.0P25.F{FFF}
- GFS.T{CC}Z.GOESSIMPGRB2F{FFF}.GRD221
THESE FILES ARE SLATED FOR REMOVAL TO OPTIMIZE GFS MODEL RUNTIME
AND REDUCE DATA DISSEMINATION TO NOMADS AND ASSOCIATED BANDWIDTH
REQUIREMENTS.
- TIME AVERAGES OF THE CATEGORICAL PRECIPITATION
TYPES WITH GRIB2 IDS CRAIN, CSNOW, CFRZR AND CICEP IN FOLLOWING
FILES:
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2.LPLL.F{FFF}
- AFFECTED GRIB2 IDS ARE CRAIN, CSNOW, CFRZR AND CICEP
CURRENTLY, THE OPERATIONAL GFS PROVIDES BOTH INSTANTANEOUS AND
TIME-AVERAGED CATEGORICAL PRECIPITATION TYPE FIELDS. HOWEVER,
CATEGORICAL PRECIPITATION TYPES ARE DIAGNOSTIC INDICATORS
REPRESENTING THE DOMINANT PRECIPITATION TYPE AT A GIVEN FORECAST
TIME. AVERAGING THESE CATEGORICAL FLAGS OVER TIME DOES NOT
PRODUCE PHYSICALLY MEANINGFUL INFORMATION AND MAY LEAD TO USER
CONFUSION OR MISINTERPRETATION, SO THESE PRODUCTS WILL BE
REMOVED.
POST-PROCESSED GRIB1 FILES:
- WMO HEADERS: [YZ][BCEFHOPRTUVWXY]Q[A-Z][0-9][0-9] KWBC
- 6-HOURLY FORECAST PRODUCTS INTERPOLATED FROM THE GRIB2 0.25
DEGREES PRESSURE AND SURFACE LEVELS TO THE CONUS GRID 211
AND TRANSLATED TO THE GRIB1 FORMAT
GRIB1 IS A DEPRECATED DATA FORMAT, SO ALL GRIB1 FILES WILL BE
REMOVED. GFS V17 DATA WILL BE AVAILABLE VIA THE SUPPORTED GRIB2
DATA FORMAT.
A FEW WAVE BUOY POINTS:
- POINT OUTPUTS FOR BUOYS 44040, 44043, 44061, 51207, AND
51210 WILL BE REMOVED FROM BOTH THE UN-TARRED DIRECTORY
BULLS.T{CC}Z/, AND FROM THE TARRED FILES:
- BULLS.T{CC}Z/GFSWAVE.{BUOY}.BULL
- BULLS.T{CC}Z/GFSWAVE.{BUOY}.CBULL
- BULLS.T{CC}Z/GFSWAVE.{BUOY}.SPEC
- GFSWAVE.T{CC}Z.BULL_TAR
- GFSWAVE.T{CC}Z.CBULL_TAR
- GFSWAVE.T{CC}Z.SPEC_TAR.GZ
- ADDITIONALLY THESE BUOYS WILL NOT BE INCLUDED IN
AWIPSBULL.T{CC}Z.GFSWAVE
THESE POINTS ARE NEARSHORE AND DO NOT FALL IN THE COMPUTATIONAL
DOMAIN, SO THEY WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE OUTPUT DATA.
NETCDF-BASED MODEL HISTORY FILES:
- GFS.T{CC}Z.ATMF{FFF}.NC
- GFS.T{CC}Z.SFCF{FFF}.NC
- GDAS.T{CC}Z.ATMF{FFF}.NC
- GDAS.T{CC}Z.SFCF{FFF}.NC
- WHERE CC REPRESENTS THE CYCLE HOUR (00, 06, 12, OR 18 UTC),
AND FFF IS THE FORECAST HOUR.
NETCDF-BASED ANALYSIS FILES:
- GFS.T{CC}Z.ATMANL.NC
- GFS.T{CC}Z.SFCANL.NC
- GDAS.T{CC}Z.ATMANL.NC
- GDAS.T{CC}Z.SFCANL.NC
- WHERE CC REPRESENTS THE CYCLE HOUR (00, 06, 12, OR 18 UTC).
THESE NETCDF FILES ARE SLATED FOR REMOVAL TO CREATE SPACE FOR
NEW OCEAN AND ICE PRODUCTS AND TO ACCOMMODATE THE INCREASE IN
ATMOSPHERIC PRODUCTS FOLLOWING THE ADDITION OF NEW FIELDS.
GRIB2 FILES AT LOWER RESOLUTION:
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2.0P50.ANL
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2.0P50.F{FFF}
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2B.0P50.ANL
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2B.0P50.F{FFF}
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2FULL.0P50.F{FFF}
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2.1P00.ANL
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2.1P00.F{FFF}
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2B.1P00.ANL
- GFS.T{CC}Z.PGRB2B.1P00.F{FFF}
- WHERE CC REPRESENTS THE CYCLE HOUR (00, 06, 12, OR 18 UTC),
AND FFF IS THE FORECAST HOUR.
- THE CORRESPONDING INDEX FILES WITH SUFFIX .IDX WILL ALSO BE
REMOVED.
THESE GRIB2 PRODUCTS WILL BE REMOVED TO CREATE SPACE FOR NEW
OCEAN AND ICE PRODUCTS AND TO ACCOMMODATE THE INCREASE IN
ATMOSPHERIC PRODUCTS FOLLOWING THE ADDITION OF NEW FIELDS.
ANOTHER REASON IS THAT THE 0P25 PGRB2 FILES REMAIN AVAILABLE AND
PROVIDE DATA AT A HIGHER RESOLUTION.
NOMADS GRIB FILTER FOR LOWER RESOLUTION INCLUDING
HTTPS://NOMADS.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/GRIBFILTER.PHP?DS=GFS_0P50
HTTPS://NOMADS.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/CGI-BIN/FILTER_GFS_0P50.PL
HTTPS://NOMADS.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/GRIBFILTER.PHP?DS=GFS_1P00
HTTPS://NOMADS.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/CGI-BIN/FILTER_GFS_1P00.PL
THE NOMADS GRIB FILER WILL SUBSEQUENTLY NO LONGER SERVE THE
LOWER RESOLUTION GRIB2 FILES WHEN REMOVED.
TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK REGARDING THIS CHANGE, PLEASE CONTACT:
EMAIL: EMC.PRODUCTS.FEEDBACK@NOAA.GOV
GOOGLE FORM: SOLICITING PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSED
TERMINATION OF VARIOUS PRODUCTS FROM THE GLOBAL FORECAST SYSTEM
AT:
HTTPS://DOCS.GOOGLE.COM/FORMS/D/E/1FAIPQLSFC4H_MCSCA5RDZGBVG4EMH
WQ43HHPNWQQCQTVURMWQE50Q6A/VIEWFORM
NATIONAL PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS ARE ONLINE AT:
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NOTIFICATION/
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