Commonly Used Numerical Forecast Models

COMMONLY USED NUMERICAL FORECAST MODELS
*Models Generated by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)**	Comments
AVN	Aviation Model generated every 12 hours by NCEP
^†Ensemble	Ensembles of various other models
^†ETA	"Eta" (after the Greek letter) model generated every 12 hours by NCEP
^†GFS	Global Forecast System (the best in some people's opinion)
MM5	Mesoscale Model (5th Version?)
MRF	Medium Range Forecast model generated every 12 hours by NCEP
^†NAM	North American Model
NGM	Nested Grid Model generated every 12 hours by NCEP.
RUC	Rapid Update Cycle
Other Models
^†ECMWF	European Centre for Meteorology Forecast model.
NOGAPS	?
UKMET	United Kingdom Forecast Model
*NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) is the central computer and communications facility of the NWS (National Weather Service), located in Washington, DC. The NWS is one of six agencies which constitute the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

^†These are probably the most widely used models at the present time. However the choices for most favored models are
constantly changing as existing models are tweaked and new models are developed.