NOAA Global Forecast System (GFS)

Data coverage

NOTE - Upgrade NCEP Global Forecast System to v16.3.0 - Effective November 29, 2022 See notification HERE The Global Forecast System (GFS) is a weather forecast model produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Dozens of atmospheric and land-soil variables are available through this dataset, from temperatures, winds, and precipitation to soil moisture and atmospheric ozone concentration. The entire globe is covered by the GFS at a base horizontal resolution of 18 miles (28 kilometers) between grid points, which is used by the operational forecasters who predict weather out to 16 days in the future. Horizontal resolution drops to 44 miles (70 kilometers) between grid point for forecasts between one week and two weeks. The NOAA Global Forecast Systems (GFS) Warm Start Initial Conditions are produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Center (NCEP) to run operational deterministic medium-range numerical weather predictions. The GFS is built with the GFDL Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere Dynamical Core (FV3) and the Grid-Point Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data assimilation system. Please visit the links below in the Documentation section to find more details about the model and the data assimilation systems. The current operational GFS is run at 64 layers in the vertical extending from the surface to the upper stratosphere and on six cubic-sphere tiles at the C768 or 13-km horizontal resolution. A new version of the GFS that has 127 layers extending to the mesopause will be implemented for operation on February 3, 2021. These initial conditions are made available four times per day for running forecasts at the 00Z, 06Z, 12Z and 18Z cycles, respectively. For each cycle, the dataset contains the first guess of the atmosphere states found in the directory ./gdas.yyyymmdd/hh-6/RESTART, which are 6-hour GDAS forecast from the last cycle, and atmospheric analysis increments and surface analysis for the current cycle found in the directory ./gfs.yyyymmdd/hh, which are produced by the data assimilation systems.

Access & permitted use

Review the publisher’s documentation for availability, eligibility and permitted uses, including commercial analysis, model training and redistribution.

NOAA data disseminated through NODD are open to the public and can be used as desired. NOAA makes data openly available to ensure maximum use of our data, and to spur and encourage exploration and innovation throughout the industry. NOAA requests attribution for the use or dissemination of unaltered NOAA data. However, it is not permissible to state or imply endorsement by or affiliation with NOAA. If you modify NOAA data, you may not state or imply that it is original, unaltered NOAA data.

Need help sourcing data?

Tell us your required fields, population, geography and time period. We can review suitable sources and licensing options.