Text Output

There are several types of text output from programs.

Surface Data

There are 4 formats for surface data output:

raw - this prints the raw undecoded data:

KBIV 070242Z AUTO 13006KT 5SM -RA BR SCT015 15/15 A2995 RMK AO2 P0002 TSNO

pln - this prints a single line of decoded output:

ID   TIME   T  TD  RH DIR SPD GST ALT SLP VIS CIL COV WX  MAX MIN  PR6 PR24 SC
KLNP 0240  52  43  71 150   4     002      10     CLR
K4BK 2347  69  52  54 310  10         114  30     CLR      72  59

plns - this is a 2 line output of decoded output plus an optional third line for comments:

  ID Tp Time  Vis    PWx   SLPres   T  Td   WD-WS WG  Alt   PT  Max Min
     CHt CCv CHt CCv CHt CCv CHt CCv CHt CCv  L:M:H  Rn3  Rn6 Rn12 Rn24 SC 
PATL SP 0335  10.0                 64  51  290- 4    29.58
     43 SCT                                    : :
   COMMENT: AO1
PAEH SP 0335  10.0                 49  43  340- 4    29.66
      6 SCT                                    : :
   COMMENT: AO1

psyn - this prints out a single line of decoded output setup for synoptic data:

 ID   Cht Cv  Vis   PWx  SLPres   T  Td  WD-WS WG  Te  PT   Rn6 Rn24 SC L:M:H
KSLC   250 F  15.0       1004.7  68  58 280- 7

psimp - this prints out a single line of decoded data more appropriate for general use:

 ID   Temp  Dew  Winds       Press   Clouds   Prec  Weather
        F    F   deg   knt     mb  100ft cov   in
 MGGT   64   63  360 at 14  ------  ---       ---- heavy drizzle
 MGGT   64   63  360 at 14  ------  ---       ---- heavy drizzle
 PAWR   55   46   90 at  3  1024.0  ---       ----
 PASD   46   39   50 at  5  ------  ---       ----

pfull - this is a multi-line output per station more appropriate for general use:

Data for: KHOU
-----------------------------------
Report time:        0450 Z
Temperature:          82 F = 27.5 C
Dewpoint:             78 F = 25.3 C
Winds:               160 deg at 6 knt
Altimeter setting:    29.85 in Hg
Sea level pressure: 1010.8 mb
Clouds:level 1:   1500 feet few
       level 2:   2500 feet scattered
Visibility:           10.00 miles
Heat index:           89.5 F

Column headings include:

ID - Station identifier
Tp - Type of report (SA,RS,SP)
Time - Time of the report in GMT
Vis - Visibility in miles
PWx - Present weather (RW-F for example)
SLP/SLPres - Sea level pressure in mb
T - Temperature in F
Td - Dewpoint in F
DIR/WD - Wind direction
SPD/WS - Wind speed (separated from direction by a hyphen)
GST/WG - Gust data (left blank if none reported)
Alt - Altimeter setting in inches of Hg
PT - Pressure tendency in standard coded form (310 for example)
PR6/Rn6 - 3 or 6 hour precipitation in inches (separated from PT by a colon)
PR24/Rn24 - 24 hour precipitation in inches
Te - Extreme temperature in F
Max - maximum temperature in F
Min - minimum temperature in F
SC - Snow cover in inches
CIL/CHt - Cloud ceiling height data
COV/Cv/CCv - Cloud coverage data for each cloud level as text "SCT" or eighths "1/8"
L, M, H - Low, middle and high cloud type information (separated by colons)

Upper Air Sounding Output

The first section is the station location information which is printed at lessage level out1a:

Date:0000Z 30 SEP 97
Station: ILX
WMO ident:  74560
Latitude:   40.15
Longitude: -89.33
Elevation: 178.00

The next section is the raw sounding data. This is a merged set of mandatory and significant level data. Additional computations are performed. Here is a list of the columns printed (all printed at mess level out1a [see red text] unless specified)

LEV -- level number. Special levels are denoted with SFC (surface), TRP (tropopause), WND (max wind).
PRES -- pressure of level in mb
HGHT -- geopotential height in m (intermediate levels interpolated using hypsometric approximation)
TEMP -- temperature in C
DEWP -- dewpoint in C
RH -- relative humidity in %
DD -- dewpoint depression in C (mess level out1b)
WETB -- wetbulb temperature in C (mess level out1b)
DIR -- wind direction in deg (intermediate levels interpolated using significant wind level data)
SPD -- wind speed in knt (intermediate levels interpolated using significant wind level data)
THETA -- potential temperature in K (mess level out1b)
THE-V -- virtual potential temperature in K (mess level out1b)
THE-W -- wetbulb potential temperature in K (mess level out1b)
THE-E -- equivalent potential temperature in K (mess level out1b)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEV PRES  HGHT  TEMP  DEWP  RH  DD   WETB DIR SPD THETA THE-V THE-W THE-E   W
     mb     m     C     C    %   C     C  deg knt   K     K     K     K    g/kg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  0 1000    -1                                                                 
SFC  980   178  26.4   6.4  28 20.0  14.7 280  19 301.3 302.4 288.6 319.7  6.15
  2  925   678  22.2   2.2  27 20.0  11.3 280  47 302.0 302.9 287.6 316.6  4.85
  3  850  1403  15.2  -0.8  33 16.0   7.1 280  46 302.1 302.8 287.1 315.0  4.24
  4  700  3001   0.0  -6.0  64  6.0  -2.6 295  50 302.5 303.1 286.5 313.2  3.49
...

The next section displays standard sounding parameters and indices. Most of the information is printed at message level out1d except for thickness, lifted, showalter, total totals and K indices, which is at message level out1c (red text).

Sounding variables and indices
1000-500 mb thick:      5631.00 m
Freezing level:          700.00 mb =  3001.00 m =  9845.68 ft
Wetbulb zero:            740.60 mb =  2536.94 m =  8323.18 ft
Precipitable water:        0.65 inches
Sfc-500 mean rel hum:     36.73 %
Est. max temperature:     27.28 C =   81.10 F
Sfc-Lift cond lev (LCL): 729.89 mb =  2656.89 m =  8716.74 ft T: 3.27 C
700-500 lapse rate:        4.68 C/km
ThetaE index:             11.23 C Layer  925.0- 598.0 mb
Conv cond level (CCL):   689.45 mb =  3121.77 m = 10241.90 ft
  Mean mixing ratio:       5.11 g/kg
  Conv temperature:       27.64 C =   81.75 F
Cap Strength:              3.86 C
Lifted Index:              5.67 C Risk: None
Lifted Index @300 mb:      7.03 C
Lifted Index @700 mb:      0.59 C
Showalter Index:           6.96 C Risk: None
Total Totals Index:       39.00 C Risk: None
  Vertical Totals Index:  27.50 C
  Cross Totals Index:     11.50 C
K Index:                  20.70   Risk: 20-40 % chance of thunderstorms
Sweat Index:             178.00   Risk: None
Energy Index:              1.12   Risk: None

The next section involves a parcel trajectory. The parcel is taken from some initial condition and raised vertically to the top of the sounding. The default parcel uses a 100 mb mean layer above the surface. The parcel type can be changed with the par plot parameter:

par=pres:temp:dew

Temperature and dewpoint are optional. If not specified, the sounding temperature
and dewpoint are used.

Type	Pres	Temp	Dew
pressure level	pres	temp	dew
surface level	sfc	temp	dew
max temperature	maxt	--	--
pressure layer	layer	thick	--

The data are printed at message level out2b except for CAPE, convective inhibition and cap strength which is printed at level out2a (red text).

Parcel Indices
Parcel: using 100 mb layer
CAPE (B+):                10.89 J/kg
Max Up Vert Vel:           4.67 m/s
Conv Inhibition (B-):     30.45 J/kg
Cap Strength:              5.49 C
Lift Cond Lev (LCL):     696.21 mb =  3044.15 m =  9987.25 ft
Lev Free Conv (LFC):     681.21 mb =  3217.42 m = 10555.70 ft
Equ Level (EL):          631.21 mb =  3818.50 m = 12527.73 ft
B at Equ Level:            7.84 J/kg
Max Parcel Lev (MPL):    611.21 mb =  4071.09 m = 13356.44 ft

The next section displays significant wind level data. Storm relative winds are computed based on a mean storm motion. This is computed using the mean wind of the lower 6km of the atmosphere. The storm direction is deflected 30 deg clockwise and the speed is 75% of the 6km mean speed. The output is at message level out3a (red text) except for the storm relative winds which is at out3b.

Wind level data
   Storm motion: 325 at  43 knt
----------------------------------------------------------
                   TRUE/GROUND REL   |     STORM REL
 LEV   P    H    DIR SPD   U     V   | DIR SPD   U     V
       mb   m        knt     m/s     |     knt     m/s
----------------------------------------------------------
  0   980   178  280  19  18.7  -3.3 | 170  32  -5.6  31.9 
  1   966   305  280  30  29.5  -5.2 | 190  30   5.3  30.0 
  2   932   610  275  46  45.8  -4.0 | 215  38  21.6  31.2 
  3   925   678  280  47  46.3  -8.2 | 219  35  22.0  27.0 
 ...

The next section is wind parameters and indices. This is printed at message level out2d except for mean winds, storm direction, helicity and energy-helicity index which are at level out2c (red text)

Wind Parameters
Mean winds (0-6000m):            295.4 at   57.0 knts
Storm direction:                 325.4 at   42.8 knts
Shear (0-3000m)              pos:    2.6 neg:    4.7 tot:    7.3 10-3/s
Storm rel Dir Shear (0-3000m):      69.6 deg
Storm rel helicity (0-3000m) pos:  310.7 neg:   -7.0 tot:  303.7 m^2/s^2
                             ave:  101.2 10^-3 m/s^2 rel:   0.84
Storm rel vorticity (0-3000m) horiz:    8.0 stream:    6.7 10^-3/s
Energy-Hel index:          0.02
Bulk Rich Number:          0.13
Bulk Shear:               85.84 m/s

The next section shows storm layer parameters. All of this information is printed at message level out3c.

Storm Parameters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Depth  Mean    Inflow|    Shear      |           Helicity           | Vorticity
 AGL  Dir Spd Dir Spd|  Pos  Neg  Tot|  Pos   Neg   Tot   Ave   Rel |  Hor Strm
  m       knt     knt|     10^-3/s   |       m^2/s^2     m/s^2      | 10^-3/s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 500  278  36 200  32|  0.0 28.8 28.8|225.6   0.0 225.6  451.2  1.00| 29.7 29.6
1000  279  41 210  33|  0.0 14.0 14.0|225.6  -7.0 218.6  218.6  0.94| 15.3 14.4
1500  280  43 213  33|  0.9  9.3 10.2|229.6  -7.0 222.6  148.4  0.88| 11.1  9.8
2000  281  44 215  33|  1.1  7.0  8.1|249.4  -7.0 242.5  121.2  0.89|  9.0  7.9
2500  282  45 217  32|  1.7  5.6  7.3|280.2  -7.0 273.2  109.3  0.89|  8.0  7.1
3000  284  45 219  31|  2.6  4.7  7.3|310.7  -7.0 303.7  101.2  0.84|  8.0  6.7
4000  289  47 225  28|  2.8  4.6  7.3|351.2  -7.0 344.3   86.1  0.75|  7.9  6.0
5000  294  51 237  26|  3.3  4.6  7.9|458.4  -7.0 451.4   90.3  0.73|  8.5  6.2
6000  295  57 248  29|  2.7  5.6  8.4|458.4-100.4 358.0   59.7  0.50|  9.0  4.5

MOS Data Output

There are three types of MOS output depending on the model used.

Model NGM

  NGM MOS data for IND
Initial time: 00Z 29 SEP 97

 HOUR   TIME   TEMP DEW  DIR SPD  CIL COV  VIS  WX  MX/MN POP12 SNOW
   6   29/ 6Z    59  53  260  11  250 BKN  10
  12   29/12Z    54  49  240  11  250 SCT  10
  18   29/18Z    70  48  250  22  250 SCT  10
  24   30/ 0Z    66  50  290  18  250 SCT  10         73    21
  30   30/ 6Z    57  50  280  12  250 BKN  10
  36   30/12Z    54  49  280  12  250 BKN  10         52    30
  42   30/18Z    65  51  300  15   20 BKN  10
  48    1/ 0Z    60  50  320  11  250 SCT  10         68     8
  54    1/ 6Z    54  50  310   5      CLR
  60    1/12Z    51  48  300   5      CLR             49     0

The columns are:

HOUR - forecast hour
TIME - valid time
TEMP - forecasted temperature (F) at valid time
DEW - forecasted dewpoint (F) at valid time
DIR - wind direction (deg) at valid time
SPD - wind speed (knt) at valid time
CIL - cloud ceiling (100s ft) at valid time
COV - cloud cover at valid time
VIS - visibility (mi) at valid time
WX - estimated weather at valid time
MX/MN - extreme temperature (either maximum or minimum) over 12 hour period prior to valid time
POP12 - probability of precipitation over 12 hour period prior to valid time
SNOW - estimated snowfall during 12 hour period prior to valid time

Model NGM_UA, ETA_UA

  NGM MOS data for IND
Initial time: 00Z 29 SEP 97

 HOUR   TIME    PSL   PREC  DIR  SPD  THK   LI  VERT
   0   29/ 0Z   1004        280   18  5630    1   3.9
   6   29/ 6Z   1005  0.00  300   21  5550    3   1.8
  12   29/12Z   1005  0.00  260   21  5560    5  -3.8
  18   29/18Z   1001  0.00  240   19  5600    5  -1.2
  24   30/ 0Z    999  0.00  270   28  5600    2   0.6
  30   30/ 6Z   1002  0.00  280   23  5580    5  -0.3
  36   30/12Z   1004  0.00  290   24  5580    7  -0.9
  42   30/18Z   1009  0.00  310   12  5600    8  -3.0
  48    1/ 0Z   1013  0.00  330   15  5610    8  -3.5
Total:                0.00

The columns are:

HOUR - forecast hour
TIME - valid time
PSL - sea level pressure (mb)
PREC - estimated precipitation (in) over 6 hour period prior to valid time
DIR - boundary layer wind direction (deg) at valid time
SPD - boundary layer wind speed (knt) at valid time
THK - 1000-500 mb thickness (m) at valid time
LI - 4 layer lifted index
VERT - 700 mb vertical velocity (mb/sec)

Model MRF

  MRF MOS data for IND
Initial time: 00Z 28 SEP 97

 DAY   DATE   MAX NRM        MIN NRM        CLOUDS   WINDS   POP12
  0   28 SEP   72  71 ( +1)       49            61       9      31
  1   29 SEP   68  71 ( -3)   51  49 ( +2)  42  39   8  14  16  24
  2   30 SEP   67  71 ( -4)   49  49 ( +0)  55  68   9  11  31  25
  3    1 OCT   67  71 ( -4)   45  49 ( -4)  44  39   5   7  17   8
  4    2 OCT   73  71 ( +2)   47  49 ( -2)  31  41   4   7   9  12
  5    3 OCT   72  71 ( +1)   52  49 ( +3)  37  45   6   8  14  21
  6    4 OCT   73  71 ( +2)   50  49 ( +1)  42  52   7   9  19  22
  7    5 OCT   68  71 ( -3)   49  49 ( +0)  50  50   6  10  25  22

The columns are:

DAY - forecast day
DATE - valid date
MAX - maximum temperature (F) for that day
NRM - normal maximum temperature (F) followed by departure from normal
MIN - minimum temperature (F) for that day
NRM - normal minimum temperature (F) followed by the departure from normal
CLOUDS - cloud coverage (%). The first number is at 12Z and the second number is at 00Z the next day
WINDS - wind speed (knt). The first number is at 12Z and the second number is at 00Z the next day
POP12 - 12 hour probability of precipitation (%). The first number is at 12Z and the second number is at 00Z the next day

Present Weather Determination

The estimated type of weather on NGM plots is based on the following information:

Precipitation based on probability of precipitation > 30%,
Precipitation type based on PTYPE field (rain, snow, freezing rain),
Precipitation intensity based on quantitative precipitation QPF field (see below),
Existence of thunderstorms based on probability of thunderstorm > 20%,
Existence of severe thunderstorms based on severe thunderstorm probability > 30%,
Existence of obscuration (fog/haze) based on VIS field < 1 mile where obscuration type determined by OBVIS field.

Precipitation type and intensity based on 6 hour information

Type	1	2	3	4	5
Rain	R-	R-	R-	R	R+
Freezing	ZR-	ZR-	ZR	ZR+	ZR+
Snow	S-	S-	S	S+	S+

Precipitation type and intensity based on 12 hour information

Type	1	2	3	4	5	6
Rain	R-	R-	R-	R-	R	R+
Freezing	ZR-	ZR-	ZR-	ZR	ZR+	ZR+
Snow	S-	S-	S-	S	S+	S+

Last updated June 1, 1998