Numerical Model forecasts and other Prognoses

Meteorology: Sources of Numerical Model output and other Prognoses

This section has a comprehensive listing of sites providing links to computer products, or products based on computer models, originating from some of the main centres in Meteorology

Numerical Model output and forecast charts based on numerical model output are, in general, available on the open internet for non-commercial use. Should you require such information for commercial purposes, you are strongly advised to contact the information supplier; the onus rests on the user to satisfy him/herself that their use of these products does not violate any rules/regulations laid down by the supplier or by the World Meteorological Organization

Thanks to Zetnet Services Ltd for the availability of the latest Met Office products

Caution: When accessing and using forecast products always establish the time of issue since
from time to time for operational reasons some charts do not always get updated on the various servers.
The Internet is not an official source of these products

Products issued by the DWD can now be accessed via the wetter3 site
The site also contains links to other main Meteorological Centres
See the DWD section below for a table of links

- Recent updates to this site

The web weavers for this site are Martin Stubbs, and David Reynolds
Please inform us of any sites which are not listed here or of any which are out of date, or if you have any other comments.
Contact is via Martin Stubbs at the following e-mail address (substitute @ for #): tempusfugit#zetnet.co.uk

Canadian Global Model Forecasts
(Environment Canada Weather)

Environment Canada has recently re-organised its output via the web. There are two separate sites:

Environment Canada Weather with access to global and regional model output, radar imagery, forecasts of the type of precipitation for a large part of the Northern Hemisphere. The menu below gives access to a selection of products, but it is worth spending a little time browsing round the site itself since a large number of products are presented and the links below are only a small fraction of what is available.
The Atmospheric and Climate Science Directorate provides information for the less scientific minded. It is also worth having a browse through.

Selection of output based on data times of 0000 & 1200 GMT

4-Panel Charts
500 hPa heights & vorticity // Surface Pressure & 1000-500 hPa thickness
700 hPa heights & 850-700-500 hPa relative humidity // 1000-700 hPa Thickness, 700 hPa vertical motion, Precipitation
Note that the British Isles is at the top-right of the panel

00 GMT Run (normally updated between 0700 and 0800 GMT):

Full-size, about 340 K: T+00, T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48, T+60, T+72, T+84, T+96, T+108, T+120, T+144 (from Environment Canada Weather)
Half-size, about 190 K: T+00, T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48, T+60, T+72, T+84, T+96, T+108, T+120, T+144

12 GMT Run (normally updated between 1900 and 2000 GMT):

Full-size, about 340 K: T+00, T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48, T+60, T+72 (direct from Environment Canada Weather)
Half-size, about 190 K: T+00, T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48, T+60, T+72 (direct from Environment Canada Weather)

Precipitation Type
Area covered: North America, North Pacific, North Atlantic and Europe
0000 GMT run normally updated between 0700 and 0730 GMT; 1200 GMT run between 1900 and 1930 GMT (only the most recent run is available):

Full-size, about 63 K: T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48 (direct from Environment Canada Weather)
Half-size, about 37 K: T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48 (direct from Environment Canada Weather)

Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology University of Cologne

(This site has many links to current weather - plotted charts and links to other related products)

Index page

Chart selection

Daytime max

Night-time min

Deutscheur Wetterdienst (DWD)

(Analyses and model output based on the 0000 UTC run except for the 30-hour forecast which is based on the 1800 UTC model run)

Surface Analysis for 00Z (with plotted observations) and a Surface Prognosis for 12Z the following day

The following two DWD charts are available via the Free University of Berlin (updated charts do not usually appear until after 10:00 GMT).

Surface Analysis for 00:00 UTC T+36 Surface Prognosis VT 12:00 UTC tomorrow

Products via the Wetter3 web site

The German Wetter3 web site carries many DWD products and products issued by other Met Services including and the ECMWF, the UK Met Office, the Meteorological service of Japan, the Canadian Met Service, the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), the National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and theUS Air Force in Europe. Many products issued by the DWD are included in this section. All the products available may be accessed via the Entry page of the site. The following table provides those links which may be found useful on a day-to-day basis.
Note that the URL is www2.wetter3 etc and not www.wetter3 etc as indicated on some web pages

Entry page to the Wetter3 web site
DWD MSLP Analysis* 0000	DWD MSLP Analysis* 0600	DWD MSLP Analysis* 1200	DWD MSLP Analysis* 1800
MSLP 00Z: 850 & 700 hPa	Analysis 00Z 500 & 400 hPa	Analysis 00Z 300 & 200-hPa	N H Analysis 00Z 300-hPa
MSLP 12Z 850 & 700 hPa	Analysis 12Z 500 & 400 hPa	Analysis 12Z 300 & 200-hPa	N H Analysis 12Z 300-hPa
Archive of DWD MSLP analyses (from 3 Dec 2003)		Sea temperature Analysis

*Latest MSLP analyses (usually available by HH+04)

UK Met Office products via the 'Wetter3' web site

Analysis	Forecast T+24	Forecast T+36	Forecast T+48	Forecast T+60
Forecast T+72	Forecast T+84	Forecast T+96	Forecast T+120	Access the Wetter3 site

Charts via via the Observatori Meteorològic de Sort
The output via the Observatori Meteorològic de Sort, contains a selection of charts, some received via radio-facsimile and put on the web and there are several other good quality products in colour received from the DWD.

DWD Global Model output in 4-up format

H=Contour lines of geopotential height (gpdam), T=Isotherms (°C)
P=MSL pressure (hPa) U=Relative Humidity (%)

T+12/T+24 : 500hPa (H+T)/Surface (P) T+36/T+48 : 500hPa (H+T)/Surface (P) T+60/T+72 : 500hPa (H+T)/Surface (P)
T+12/T+24 : 850hPa (T)/700hPa (U) T+36/T+48 : 850hPa (T)/700hPa (U) T+60/T+72 : 850hPa (T)/700hPa (U)

Other DWD output via the Observatori Meteorològic de Sort

Menu page for charts

ECMWF
(European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, based in Reading, United Kingdom)
(Two computer runs a day based on 0000UTC data and 1200UTC data.
The products are usually available on the ECMWF web site soon after 0700UTC and 1900UTC respectively.

Note that the links to ECMWF products on this page are to output classed as Essential within the terms of WMO Resolution 40 (more details)

ECMWF – Forecast products for days 3 to 7)
(Products are available for days 3 to 7 for all sectors of the globe and can be downloaded in PDF format)

Entry page for access to ECMWF products

ECMWF Output via Unisys Corp. USA:

ECMWF charts available on the Unisys site, 4-Panel (Day 3 to 6), Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6

Output via Infomet, Spain (mirror of charts on the Unisys Corp. site):

4-panel mosaic Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

INM, the Spanish Meteorological Service
INM-HIRLAM model

Home page of the Instituto Nacional de Meteorología, Spain

Access to model output via menu options

Access to satellite imagery via menu options

Iceland

This site runs a 0.25 degree staggered grid Limited Area Model based on the NMC-ETA model
using the AVN global fields for initialization

    Access to Iceland's LAM model output via menu options
      There are many menu options:
        – one can access an Atlantic chart,one of the United Kingdom or just one of England and Wales.
       – And there are many other options for selecting the area of interest.
        – There is a choice of what one can call up: grid point winds, rainfall, cloudiness and temperature.

Wyoming University USA

An excellent site for surface data (METAR), upper-air data (radio-sonde), numerical model output and other miscellaneous meteorological information world-wide

Menu page to meteorological data and products

Menu for selection of upper-air data
    Access to upper-air data provides the ability to view upper-air diagrams, hodographs, a text print-out of the data and calculated instability indices for each ascent

Menu for selection of METAR data world-wide
    Advantage with this menu is that there is a facility to plot a meteogram of the observations

Menu for Difax charts
    Charts (black and white) for most parts of the world originated by the NWS

Entry page for selecting numerical model output
    Provides the user with choice of two sets of isopleths and two sets of colours to display the output

INFOMET, Spain
Chart area: Western Europe as far north as central Scotland

Model information from INFOMET, University of Barcelona, Spain

Home page

Temperature and humidity prognoses

UK Met Office
products

Model output
based on NCEP products

National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), United States

Site provides links to many pages related to the environment

A useful site but mainly oriented towards the North American Continent

NCEP home page

United States, National Weather Service (NWS) Products
NWS products for North America, Europe and other areas via the Unisys Corp site
The site makes available a wide selection of output from the US models (a selection of links is provided below)

Links to all the products available via the Unisys site.

AVN RUN
- run on 0000 and 1200 GMT data
Charts on the Unisys site updated between 0500 & 0600 GMT (0000 GMT run) and 1700 & 1800 (1200 GMT run)
- click here for Unisys Corp. update status

AVN Run: 6-Panels Of Various Fields, T+12 to T+72 hours
Surface Pressure, 1000-500 hPa Thickness & Precipitation (via Unisys Corp., USA) Info.
850 hPa Heights, Winds & Temperatures (via Unisys Corp., USA) Info.
700 hPa Heights, Winds & Vertical Velocity (via Unisys Corp., USA) Info.
500 hPa Heights, Winds & Absolute Vorticity (via Unisys Corp., USA) Info.
300 hPa Heights & Winds (via Unisys Corp., USA) Info.
Integrated 850-500 hPa Relative Humidity (via Unisys Corp., USA) Info.

AVN Run: 4-Panels
850 hPa Temperature, 850 hPa Heights, 850 hPa Winds // 300 hPa Winds, 300 hPa Heights
Precipitation, Surface Pressure, Thickness // Integrated 850-500 hPa Relative Humidity, Showalter Index
T+00, T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48, T+60, T+72 (via Unisys Corp., USA)

MRF RUN
- run on 0000 GMT data
Charts updated between 1000 & 1100 GMT - click here for Unisys Corp. update status

MRF Run: 9-Panels Of Various Fields, T+2 to T+10 days
Surface Pressure & 500 hPa Heights (via Unisys Corp., USA) Info.
Surface Pressure, Precipitation & Thickness (via Unisys Corp., USA)
850 hPa Heights, Temperatures & Wind Speeds (via Unisys Corp., USA)
300 hPa Heights & Wind Speeds (via Unisys Corp., USA)
850-500 hPa Integrated Relative Humidity & Showalter Index (via Unisys Corp., USA)

MRF Run: Surface Pressure & 500 hPa Heights, for every 12 hours (T+0 to T+10 days)
T+00, T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48, T+60, T+72, T+84, T+96, T+108, T+120, T+132, T+144, T+156, T+168, T+180, T+192, T+204, T+216, T+228, T+240 (via Unisys Corp., USA)

MRF Run: 4-Panels, for every 12 hours (T+0 to T+10 days)
850 hPa Temperature, 850 hPa Heights, 850 hPa Winds // 300 hPa Winds, 300 hPa Heights
Precipitation, Surface Pressure, Thickness // Integrated 850-500 hPa Relative Humidity, Showalter Index
T+00, T+12, T+24, T+36, T+48, T+60, T+72, T+84, T+96, T+108, T+120, T+132, T+144, T+156, T+168, T+180, T+192, T+204, T+216, T+228, T+240 (via Unisys Corp., USA)

AVN/MRF ENSEMBLE RUNS

500 hPa Heights, Surface Pressure & 1000-500 hPa Thicknesses (T+0 to T+15 days, at 00Z) ensemble mean, spaghetti plots & standard deviation (via Climatic Diagnostics Center, USA) Info.

Fleet Numerical Meteorology & Oceanography Center, Monterey (US)
US computer products (MRF, AVN and NOGAPS), satellite imagery, tropical cyclone information, and more
for areas worldwide

Links to latest computer products from the US MRF, AVN and the Navy NOGAPS models
Links to Tropical Storm information world-wide, ensemble forecasts, gale forecasts etc etc.
Site easy to navigate with clear menus - number of products available must be in the hundreds

    Link to the FNMOC public access site

The following US Navy site provides numerical model output for most oceanic areas of the globe including many other sectors of the globe - output from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) products:
:
       NOGAPS model output via nrlmry site :model output for most sectors of the globe

United Kingdom

Analyses and Prognoses issued by the Met Office

(links to the Met Office Global Model output further down the page)

The analyses are based on observations, interpretation of satellite imagery and the Met Office Global Model background fields in data sparse areas. The Forecast products are based on the Met Office Global model forecast fields, but manipulated by the forecasters in a dynamically consistent way when considered necessary, such as to take account of known errors in the model initialisation or in light of a consensus of a range of solutions from other models.

Met Office MSLP analyses and prebaratics - quick access to latest charts held on this site

Thumbnail images of the latest set of files in PNG format on this site
See table below for the individual charts
Note that the T+84/108/132 are based on 0000UTC data and the T+96/120 on 1200UTC data

PNG (75KB)	Analysis	T+24	T+36	T+48	T+60	T+72	T+84	T+96	T+120
GIF (550KB)	Analysis	T+24	T+36	T+48	T+60	T+72	T+84	T+96	T+120
TIF (55KB)	Analysis	T+24	T+36	T+48	T+60	T+72	T+84	T+96	T+120

The analysis usually available on this site by HH+0320, the 24-hour f/c chart by HH+0520, the T+36/ T+48 by 0620/1820, and the T+60/72 by 0720/1920UTC
The T+84 based on 0000UTC data (verifies at 1200UTC) usually available after 0930 .
The T+96 and T+120 based on 1200UTC data, usually available after 2320UTC ( verify at 1200UTC)

Menu for accessing the Met Office products via the NWS server in Washington

Charts available via this site on a rolling 24 hour basis (But always check the validity time of the chart downloaded)
(All files are in TIF format (approx 55KB) while the LATEST CHART is also available in both GIF (approx 550KB) and PNG (approx 75KB) formats)

MSLP Analysis - ASXX (pressure centres, fronts and isobars) for T+00 hours (North Atlantic & Europe)
0000 GMT (grabbed about 0305 GMT and again at 0505 GMT)  0600 GMT (grabbed about 0905 GMT and again at 1105 GMT)
1200 GMT (grabbed about 1505 GMT and again at 1705 GMT)  1800 GMT (grabbed about 2105 GMT and again at 2305 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format     GIF file format     PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVA89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVA89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 24-hour forecast - FSXX (pressure centres, fronts and isobars) (North Atlantic & Europe)
0000 GMT (grabbed about 0505 GMT and again at 0705 GMT)  0600 GMT (grabbed about 1105 GMT and again at 1305 GMT)
1200 GMT (grabbed about 1705 GMT and again at 1905 GMT)  1800 GMT (grabbed about 2305 GMT and again at 0105 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format    GIF file format     PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVE89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVE89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 36-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
0000 GMT (grabbed about 0605 GMT) 1200 GMT (grabbed about 1805 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format GIF file format PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVG89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVG89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 48-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
0000 GMT (grabbed about 0605 GMT) 1200 GMT (grabbed about 1805 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format GIF file format PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVI89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVI89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 60-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
0000 GMT (grabbed about 0705 GMT) 1200 GMT (grabbed about 1905 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format GIF file format PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVJ89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVJ89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 72-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
0000 GMT (grabbed about 0705 GMT) 1200 GMT (grabbed about 1905 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format GIF file format PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVK89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVK89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 84-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
0000 GMT (grabbed about 0905 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format GIF file format PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVL89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVL89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 96-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
1200 GMT (grabbed about 2305 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format GIF file format PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVM89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVM89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 108-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
This chart is no longer issued by the UK Met Office

MSLP 120-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
1200 GMT (grabbed about 2305 GMT)
LATEST CHART: TIF file format GIF file format PNG file format
Grabbed from: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/PPVO89.TIF (via NWS, USA)
also available from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PPVO89.TIF (via NWS, USA) (except LATEST CHART in GIF & PNG formats which are converted on-site)

MSLP 132-hour forecast (pressure centres, fronts, isobars and 1000-500 hPa thickness) (North Atlantic & Europe)
This chart is no longer issued by the UK Met Office

North Atlantic Sea State forecast from the Met Office
Wave height, swell direction & wind direction (Files in .TIF format): T+24, T+48
(via NWS, USA

UK Met Office MSLP analyses and forecast charts via the Wetter3 web site in Germany

Analysis	Forecast T+24	Forecast T+36	Forecast T+48	Forecast T+60
Forecast T+72	Forecast T+84	Forecast T+96	Forecast T+120	Access the Wetter3 site

UK Met Office MSLP analyses and forecast charts via the Wetterzentrale Site
(This site provides an alternative source for the Met Office forecaster adjusted charts in 'gif' format):

Analysis

T+24

T+36

T+48

T+60-hr

T+72-hr

T+84-hr

T+96-hr

T+120-hr

Global Model output from the Met Office

The UK Met Office runs two configurations of its Unified Model, namely the Global Model and the Mesoscale model. Some output from the Global Model is classified as Essential within the terms of WMO Resolution 40. Details of what products are classed as Essential are contained in the WMO Operational Newsletters issued by the WMO in Geneva. A listing of the bulletins/products listed as Additional is contained in a PDF file which may be accessed via the FTP directory for Operational information on the WMO site. The onus is on the user to abide by the terms of the Resolution and ensure that use of any products which may be classed as Additional are used strictly for ones own non-commercial use. Disregard of this directive could result in all access to such information being withdrawn.

Wyoming University
The link below allows the user to select the form of presentation of the output ( T+0 to T+72) available for different sectors
Menu: UK Global Model output

Meteocentre Site
Two sets of charts are available, MSLP isobaric output (4-mb spacing) plus 500-hPa contours and the key total thickness of the 1000/500-hPa layer (in the standard colours used by the Met Office (Brown - 510 dam, Blue - 528 dam, Green - 546 dam, Red - 564 dam, Purple - 582 dam). The Models Menu page on the site provides a wide choice of presentations. The links below provide access to all the pages available.

Menu for UK model output

Menu for access to other numerical model output

USAFE OWS

The European Theater Source for Weather Information

The site has been completely redesigned and went live on 5th February 2007.
The following links are to some of the products but the full set of products may be accessed via the Home page
The following links are to products on the public access part of the site maintained by theUnited States Airforce in Europe
The forecast products are based on the global model output from the Met Office

Home page
Surface Analyses	UK Model output	Surface Prog (T+24)	Satellite analyses

The following links to the Analysis and the forecast sequence are still active (18 March 2007).
Note that the forecast charts based on midnight for example are not posted until after 0915UTC

Analysis	T+12	T+24	T+36
T+48	T+72	T+96	T+120

> Top of this page | Home Page

Page updated on 10th April 2008

Hit counter