Weather Sources
Description of the GFS LAMP Alphanumeric Message
The source of the 24 hour data is GFS LAMP provided by NOAA. A sample and a description of the 'raw' text form of this data follows.
LAMP Sample Message
KBWI GFS LAMP GUIDANCE 4/14/2014 1500 UTC
UTC 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
TMP 74 75 78 77 76 75 74 71 69 67 67 65 64 64 64 64 63 63 62 62 63 63 63 64 63
DPT 56 56 56 56 56 55 56 56 57 56 56 56 56 57 57 58 58 58 58 58 60 59 59 59 56
WDR 20 20 20 20 21 20 19 18 17 17 17 17 18 17 15 15 16 17 14 14 15 18 19 19 18
WSP 20 21 21 18 18 16 14 13 12 12 14 12 12 11 11 13 15 16 16 15 14 15 14 16 15
WGS 28 29 29 26 26 24 22 NG NG NG NG NG NG NG NG 20 23 23 23 23 22 23 23 25 23
PPO 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 4 5 7 11 13 22 27 33 38 43 52 54 52 51 49
PCO N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
P06 22 37 87
LP2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 5 6 4 4 5 7 10
LC2 N N N N N N N N N N N N N L
CP2 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 16 16 25 35 37 37
CC2 N N N N N N N N L L M H H H
POZ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
POS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TYP R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
CLD OV OV BK OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV OV
CIG 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2
CCG 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2
VIS 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4
CVS 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 7 5 5 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 4
OBV N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N BR BR BR BR BR BR BR BR
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- UTC = Hour of the day in UTC time. This is the hour at which the forecast is valid, or if the forecast is valid for a period, the end of the forecast period.
- TMP = surface temperature valid at that hour.
- DPT = surface dew point valid at that hour.
- WDR = forecasts of the 10-meter wind direction at the hour, given in tens of degrees.
- WSP = forecasts of the 10-meter wind speed at the hour, given in knots.
- WGS = forecasts of the 10-meter wind gust at the hour, given in knots. "NG" means that no gust is forecast.
- PPO = probability of precipitation occurring on the hour. The precipitation need not be measurable.
- P06 = probability of measurable precipitation (PoP) during a 6-h period ending at that time.
- PCO = categorical forecast of yes (Y) or no (N) indicating if precipitation, not necessarily measurable, will occur on the hour.
- LP2 = probability of lightning (at least one cloud-to-ground lightning strike) occurring during the 2-hr period ending at the indicated time.
- LC2 = categorical forecast of no (N), low (L), medium (M), or high (H) potential for lightning (at least one cloud-to-ground lightning strike) occurring during the 2-hr period ending at the indicated time.
- CP2 = probability of convection (at least one cloud-to-ground lightning strike and/or radar reflectivity of 40dBZ or higher) occurring during the 2-hr period ending at the indicated time.
- CC2 = categorical forecast of no (N), low (L), medium (M), or high (H) potential for convection (at least one cloud-to-ground lightning strike and/or radar reflectivity of 40dBZ or higher) occurring during the 2-hr period ending at the indicated time.
- POZ* = conditional probability of freezing precip. occurring at the hour. This probability is conditional on precipitation occurring.
- POS* = conditional probability of snow occurring at the hour. This probability is conditional on precipitation occurring.
- TYP* = conditional precipitation type at the hour. This category forecast is conditional on precipitation occurring.
- CLD = forecast categories of total sky cover valid at that hour.
- CIG = ceiling height categorical forecasts at the hour.
- CCG = conditional ceiling height categorical forecasts at the hour. This category forecast is conditional on precipitation occurring.
- VIS = visibility categorical forecasts at the hour.
- CVS = conditional visibility categorical forecasts at the hour. This category forecast is conditional on precipitation occurring.
- OBV = obstruction to vision categorical forecasts at the hour.
*In the contiguous United States, these products are available September 1 - May 31.
Description of the GFS MOS Alphanumeric Message
The source of the 3 day data is GFS MOS also provided by NOAA. A sample and a description of the 'raw' text form of this data follows.
Sample Message
KDEN GFS MOS GUIDANCE 3/04/2010 1200 UTC
DT /MAR 4/MAR 5 /MAR 6 /MAR 7
HR 18 21 00 03 06 09 12 15 18 21 00 03 06 09 12 15 18 21 00 06 12
N/X 27 53 28 51 24
TMP 48 52 51 40 35 32 30 35 47 50 48 40 38 35 32 36 45 48 45 31 27
DPT 25 25 27 29 29 27 25 25 21 17 18 20 21 21 20 21 21 22 22 23 21
CLD BK SC SC SC SC OV OV OV BK BK BK SC BK SC SC SC SC SC SC SC SC
WDR 19 14 13 16 20 20 25 25 28 28 28 22 23 23 22 21 12 10 10 17 21
WSP 05 12 11 08 08 07 07 07 08 10 11 08 08 07 07 07 07 10 10 08 07
P06 1 6 14 20 14 25 8 4 2 3 2
P12 15 27 26 4 3
Q06 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Q12 0 0 0 0 0
T06 5/11 1/ 2 0/ 1 1/ 2 8/ 3 1/ 1 0/ 0 0/ 0 2/ 8 0/ 0
T12 7/11 1/ 2 8/ 4 0/ 1 2/ 8
POZ 1 1 3 2 2 7 8 3 4 2 3 0 3 3 4 6 3 1 2 0 3
POS 27 16 18 24 28 65 74 72 31 20 37 57 94 87 95 65 41 18 28 50 91
TYP R R R R R S S S R R R S S S S S R R R R S
SNW 0 0 0
CIG 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
VIS 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 1 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
OBV N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
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- DT = The day of the month, denoted by the standard three or four letter abbreviation
- HR = Hour of the day in UTC time. This is the hour at which the forecast is valid, or if the forecast is valid for a period, the end of the forecast period.
- N/X = nighttime minimum/daytime maximum surface temperatures.
- TMP = surface temperature valid at that hour.
- DPT = surface dew point valid at that hour.
- CLD = forecast categories of total sky cover valid at that hour.
- WDR = forecasts of the 10-meter wind direction at the hour, given in tens of degrees.
- WSP = forecasts of the 10-meter wind speed at the hour, given in knots.
- P06 = probability of precipitation (PoP) during a 6-h period ending at that time.
- P12 = PoP during a 12-h period ending at that time.
- Q06 = quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) category for liquid equivalent precipitation amount during a 6-h period ending at that time.
- Q12 = QPF category for liquid equivalent precipitation amount during a 12-h period ending at the
indicated time.
- SNW = snowfall categorical forecasts during a 24-h period ending at the indicated time.
- T06 = probability of thunderstorms/conditional probability of severe thunderstorms during the 6-hr period ending at the indicated time.
- T12 = probability of thunderstorms/conditional probability of severe thunderstorms during the 12-hr period ending at the indicated time.
- POZ = conditional probability of freezing precip. occurring at the hour.
- POS = conditional probability of snow occurring at the hour.
- TYP = conditional precipitation type at the hour.
- CIG = ceiling height categorical forecasts at the hour.
- VIS = visibility categorical forecasts at the hour.
- OBV = obstruction to vision categorical forecasts at the hour.
Definitions of Categorical Elements
Ceiling Height Categories (CIG,CCG)
1 | < 200 feet |
2 | 200 - 400 feet |
3 | 500 - 900 feet |
4 | 1000 - 1900 feet |
5 | 2000 - 3000 feet |
6 | 3100 - 6500 feet |
7 | 6600 - 12,000 feet |
8 | > 12,000 feet or unlimited ceiling |
Visibility Categories (VIS, CVS)
1 | < 1/2 miles |
2 | 1/2 - < 1 miles |
3 | 1 - < 2 miles |
4 | 2 - < 3 miles |
5 | 3 - 5 miles |
6 | 6 miles |
7 | > 6 miles |
QPF Categories (MOS only)
0 | no precipitation |
1 | 0.01 to 0.09 inches |
2 | 0.10 to 0.24 inches |
3 | 0.25 to 0.49 inches |
4 | 0.50 to 0.99 inches |
5 | 1.00 to 1.99 inches |
6 | 2.00 inches or greater |
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Cloud Categories (CLD)
CL | clear |
FW | few > 0 to 2 octas |
SC | scattered > 2 to 4 octas |
BK | broken > 4 to < 8 octas |
OV | overcast |
Obstruction to Vision Categories (OBV)
N | none of the following |
HZ | haze, smoke, dust |
BR | mist (fog with visibility >= 5/8 mile) |
FG | fog or ground fog (visibility < 5/8 mile) |
BL | blowing dust, sand, snow |
Snow Fall Amount Categories (MOS only)
0 | no snow or a trace expected |
1 | > a trace to < 2 inches |
2 | 2 to < 4 inches |
4 | 4 to < 6 inches |
6 | 6 to < 8 inches |
8 | >= 8 inches |
Precipitation Type Categories (TYP)
S | pure snow or snow grains |
Z |
freezing rain/drizzle, ice pellets, or |
anything mixed with freezing precip. |
R | pure rain/drizzle or rain mixed with snow |
For numerical forecast elements, missing
values are indicated by a 99 or 999
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