LAMP Change Log (More Info) - MDL
2010 February
UPDATE: This change has been postponed until March 03, 2010 per amended TIN 09-39.
LAMP Change Notice
FRIDAY JANUARY 22, 2010
Attention LAMP users:
Effective on Tuesday, Februrary 9, 2010, GFS-MOS will remove 19 stations from their guidance (TIN 09-39). This change will impact GFS-LAMP. As a result, beginning at 1600 UTC on February 9, 2010, LAMP will no longer provide text bulletin (AWIPS ID: LAV) or BUFR guidance for the following 18 stations:
K4BK BROOKINGS OR N42.0500 W124.2833 K87Q SAN SIMEON (AMOS) CA N35.6667 W121.2833 KCGX MEIGS APRT IL N41.8667 W087.6167 KCQV COLVILLE MUNICIPAL WA N48.5500 W117.8833 KGFA MALMSTROM AFB MT N47.5047 W111.1873 KIIY WASHINGTON-WILKES AP GA N33.7800 W082.8200 KILL WILLMAR (AWOS) MN N45.1167 W095.0833 KMCC MCCLELLAN AFB CA N38.6667 W121.4000 KMLD MALAD CITY ID N42.1667 W112.3167 KMQT MARQUETTE MI N46.5333 W087.5500 KNEL LAKEHURST NAS NJ N40.0333 W074.3536 KNQX KEY WEST NAS FL N24.5757 W081.6888 KP38 CALIENTE ASOS NV N37.6167 W114.5167 KP75 SEUL CHOIX (AMOS) MI N45.9167 W086.2300 KPLB PLATTSBURGH-CLINTON NY N44.6822 W073.5278 KUCA UTICA NY N43.1436 W075.3844 KXVW VANDENBERG RANGE CA N34.7200 W120.5700 PAVW VALDEZ AK N61.1333 W146.3500
In addition, the call letters for the following stations will be modified:
Blakely, GA from K11J to KBIJ
Winner Wiley Field, SD from KSFD to KICR
Huslia, AK from PAHS to PAHL
As a result of changes to the GFS MOS guidance, LAMP precipitation type guidance will now be available for all CONUS stations. This will result in 3 extra lines of precipitation type guidance in the text bulletins of CONUS stations that did not previously have such guidance. In addition, the availability of guidance for some other LAMP elements will be altered as a result of their corresponding availability in GFS MOS. This will slightly alter the format of some of the text bulletins. Please see the link below for an example of how the LAV output will be changing:
lmp_lavtxt_t12z.diff.txt
The specific GFS-LAMP BUFR and Text Product headers affected by the station removal are listed below:
GFS-LAMP Text Product : FOUS11 KWNO LAVUSA
GFS-LAMP BUFR Products: JSMF10 KWNO
JSMF11 KWNO
JSMF12 KWNO
JSMF13 KWNO
JSMF14 KWNO
JSMF15 KWNO
JSMF16 KWNO
JSMF17 KWNO
To view the GFS-MOS TIN 09-39 detailing the change referenced above, see https://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/tin09-39gfs_mos.pdf.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Scott Scallion
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2009 October
LAMP Change Notice
FRIDAY OCTOBER 30, 2009
Attention LAMP users:
Effective on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, GFS-MOS will remove 19 stations from their guidance (TIN 09-39). This change will impact GFS-LAMP. As a result, beginning at 1600 UTC on January 26, 2010, LAMP will no longer provide text bulletin (AWIPS ID: LAV) or BUFR guidance for the following 18 stations:
K4BK BROOKINGS OR N42.0500 W124.2833 K87Q SAN SIMEON (AMOS) CA N35.6667 W121.2833 KCGX MEIGS APRT IL N41.8667 W087.6167 KCQV COLVILLE MUNICIPAL WA N48.5500 W117.8833 KGFA MALMSTROM AFB MT N47.5047 W111.1873 KIIY WASHINGTON-WILKES AP GA N33.7800 W082.8200 KILL WILLMAR (AWOS) MN N45.1167 W095.0833 KMCC MCCLELLAN AFB CA N38.6667 W121.4000 KMLD MALAD CITY ID N42.1667 W112.3167 KMQT MARQUETTE MI N46.5333 W087.5500 KNEL LAKEHURST NAS NJ N40.0333 W074.3536 KNQX KEY WEST NAS FL N24.5757 W081.6888 KP38 CALIENTE ASOS NV N37.6167 W114.5167 KP75 SEUL CHOIX (AMOS) MI N45.9167 W086.2300 KPLB PLATTSBURGH-CLINTON NY N44.6822 W073.5278 KUCA UTICA NY N43.1436 W075.3844 KXVW VANDENBERG RANGE CA N34.7200 W120.5700 PAVW VALDEZ AK N61.1333 W146.3500
In addition, the call letters for the following stations will be modified:
Blakely, GA from K11J to KBIJ
Winner Wiley Field, SD from KSFD to KICR
Huslia, AK from PAHS to PAHL
The specific GFS-LAMP BUFR and Text Product headers affected by the station removal are listed below:
GFS-LAMP Text Product : FOUS11 KWNO LAVUSA
GFS-LAMP BUFR Products: JSMF10 KWNO
JSMF11 KWNO
JSMF12 KWNO
JSMF13 KWNO
JSMF14 KWNO
JSMF15 KWNO
JSMF16 KWNO
JSMF17 KWNO
To view the GFS-MOS TIN 09-39 detailing the change referenced above, see https://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/tin09-39gfs_mos.pdf.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Scott Scallion
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2009 February
LAMP Announcement
February 10, 2009
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2009
LAMP Users,
On or about February 10, 2009 a new graphic will be available on the LAMP web page. The graphic shows LAMP probability forecasts and associated thresholds for the aviation elements of:
- Ceiling height
- Conditional ceiling height (conditional on precipitation occurring)
- Visibility
- Conditional visibility (conditional on precipitation occurring)
- Probability of Precipitation on the Hour
- Probability of Freezing
- Probability of Freezing or Snow
This information is available for all LAMP stations, and all LAMP cycles. The precipitation type information is available on the "Uncertainty Plot" tab.
The intent of this web page is to allow users to easily see the probabilities for critical aviation categories and elements, and to see how they relate to their associated thresholds which together determine the best category selected in LAMP.
The web page is available from the main LAMP Products Page under "Probability Plots":
https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp.
or directly from :
http://weather.gov/mdl/gfslamp/uncertform.php. *
Documentation explaining what is offered on the page can be found at:
http://weather.gov/mdl/gfslamp/docs/uncertplots_info.shtml. *
and a powerpoint presentation "tutorial" explaining this in more detail can be found at:
We hope that you might find this information useful. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.
Judy Ghirardelli, Scott Scallion, and the LAMP Team
NWS/OST/NWS/MDL/LAMP
2007 November
Plan for Removal of NGM-LAMP
LAMP Plan
August 09, 2007
Updated November 05, 2007 to correct ftp directory name
1. Introduction
The Local AWIPS MOS System (LAMP) system currently updates the Nested Grid Model (NGM) Model Output Statistics (MOS). The LAMP system is being redeveloped to update the Global Forecast System (GFS) MOS instead of the NGM MOS, and has been renamed the Localized Aviation MOS Program. Currently, the new GFS-based LAMP system is running operationally with the same number of cycles as the NGM-based LAMP system and will eventually provide updated guidance every hour of the day. In addition, the number of stations for which forecasts are generated in the new GFS-LAMP system has significantly increased from its predecessor the NGM-LAMP system and is now on the order of the station-based GFS-MOS system.
The NGM-LAMP system runs at the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) in the Advanced Weather Interactive Preparation System (AWIPS), as well as in a non-operational jobstream at NCEP for internal archiving, product generation for the NWS LAMP web page, and to send products to the NWS FTP server. The NGM-LAMP system is being removed from AWIPS in the OB8.1 release of AWIPS. This removal is in accordance with the approved OB8.1 content of the System Recommendation & Evaluation Committee (SREC). With the AWIPS OB8.1 release, the NGM-LAMP software will no longer run locally at CONUS WFOs in AWIPS, and the NGM-LAMP guidance will no longer be available in AWIPS.
In concert with planning to discontinue the outdated NGM-LAMP guidance, the non-operational system can no longer be supported as new systems are developed and maintained. Therefore the NWS plans to remove the NGM-LAMP products from the NWS LAMP web site https://www.weather.gov/mdl/lamp_ngmlamp and also from the NWS FTP Server tgftp.nws.noaa.gov.
A Public Information Statement has been issued to request comments on the planned removal of the NGM-LAMP products from the web site and the NWS FTP server. You can access the Public Information Statement at:
https://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm
2. Background
The NGM-MOS based LAMP system was implemented locally at NWS WFOs in AWIPS in the late 1990's. In time, difficulties became evident with locally implementing such a system. As AWIPS was updated, it was found that the coordination and maintenance of the local implementation of the LAMP system with each AWIPS upgrade or release created an unnecessary shift in resources from other LAMP projects. In addition, the system could fail at a WFO for reasons unrelated to the LAMP software, such as lack or delay of receipt of the observations, the model data, the MOS, in addition to the inadvertent deletion of critical files that could negatively affect the system. This created an unforeseen maintenance issue in terms of resources necessary to support the local system.
As more modern MOS systems were being developed at MDL, the NGM-LAMP system became outdated. The original development of the NGM-LAMP was for eight cycles of guidance for less than a thousand stations in the CONUS. The system was driven by the NGM model and updated the NGM MOS. The NGM model and NGM MOS are not only outdated, they are "frozen" in that they are not being updated, and therefore are not realizing any benefits from NCEP modeling improvements. The NGM model has not been modified since 1991, and the NGM MOS has not been updated since 1995. Consequently, the opportunity existed to update the LAMP system based on more modern NCEP models and newer MOS guidance
Based on the maintenance issues found, it was decided that centralizing the LAMP system would allow for a more easily updated and maintained system. In addition, a science opportunity existed to update the LAMP system based on more modern NCEP models and newer MOS guidance. It was decided to utilize the GFS and GFS MOS for this purpose. By removing the system from AWIPS and the WFOs, and implementing on NCEP central computers, the dissemination could be centralized and the maintenance more manageable. This upgrade to the system has made it possible to develop the system as an update to the more modern GFS MOS, to provide guidance for many more stations (upwards of 1500) and more cycles (eventually 24 cycles) than was realistically possible with the older NGM-LAMP.
As a result, a more maintainable and updated product (GFS-LAMP) is now available. This product replaces the NGM-LAMP, and is in numerous regards a superior product. However, the NGM-LAMP elements of Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF) and the three layers of cloud guidance (height and amount) have not yet been replaced in the new GFS-LAMP system. Strong consideration was given to retaining these forecast elements. However, with regard to the QPF, we have found that the observations of precipitation amounts contained in the METARs are not adequate to help update the MOS because not all stations reliably report observed precipitation amounts. Therefore more robust observational data is desired. Currently we do not have a database of observations that will skillfully update the QPF in the GFS-based LAMP system, but we are investigating acquiring such data. Moreover, any new LAMP QPF development will be based upon a newly developed gridded GFS-MOS QPF product, which to date, has not been implemented. Once these two factors are no longer an issue, it is anticipated that a LAMP QPF product will be implemented. Cloud layers were not included in the new LAMP system because they were found to be of questionable skill. In the future, if it is determined that this element demonstrates any beneficial skill, it will likely be implemented in the new GFS-LAMP system. We are also investigating other cloud elements that might be beneficial to our users, such as guidance for a lowest cloud layer that is neither broken nor overcast. (Note: the GFS-LAMP does already provide ceiling height and total sky cover guidance).
Alternatives to the termination of the NGM-LAMP are not feasible because of limited resources within the NWS and the higher priority of further development of the replacement GFS-LAMP system.
3. Affected Products
If the NGM-LAMP were removed, the NGM-LAMP products listed below would no longer be available on the NWS FTP server tgftp.nws.noaa.gov:
-
NGM-LAMP ASCII text bulletins located on the NWS FTP server in the following directory with the following filenames:
SL.us008001/DF.anf/DC.lamp/cy.HH.txt
where HH is the cycle of the NGM-LAMP guidance in UTC, and can be any of 02, 05, 08, 11, 14, 17, 20, or 23.
-
NGM-LAMP GRIB1 quantitative precipitation forecasts located on the NWS FTP server in the following directory with the following filenames:
SL.us008001/DF.gr1/DC.lamp/RD.YYYYMMDD/cy.HH.bin
where YYYY is the current year in 4 digits, MM is the current month in two digits, and DD is the current day in two digits.
HH is the cycle of the NGM-LAMP guidance in UTC, and can be any of 02, 05, 08, 11, 14, 17, 20, or 23.
The new GFS-LAMP guidance is currently available and is intended to be used as a replacement for the NGM-LAMP. Information concerning the GFS-LAMP, including the real-time GFS-LAMP guidance, is available at the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp.
For your reference, key differences between the NGM-based LAMP system and the GFS-based LAMP system are summarized below. Please note that the GFS-LAMP does not currently provide guidance for either Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF) or Cloud Layer Amounts and Heights for 3 layers of clouds. In the future, these elements may be developed for GFS-LAMP. The new GFS-LAMP will provide guidance for categorical Ceiling Height and Total Sky Cover.
| Category | Current (NGM-based) LAMP | New (GFS-based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
| Updates | NGM MOS | GFS MOS |
| Runs | Locally in AWIPS | Centrally on NCEP computers |
| Distribution | Within AWIPS, NWS ftp server, experimentally on web | Across NOAAport, SBN, NWS ftp server, on website, National Digital Guidance Database, received in AWIPS and at NWS National Centers |
| Cycles | Every 3 hours | Every hour (planned) |
| Projections | Hourly out to 20 hours | Hourly out to 25 hours |
| Coverage | CONUS | CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico (Thunderstorm guidance available over CONUS only) |
| Stations | ~ 1000 stations | > 1500-1600 Stations (depending on the cycle) |
Key differences between the NGM-based LAMP forecast elements and the GFS-based LAMP forecast elements are summarized below:
| Element | Current (NGM-based) LAMP | New (GFS-based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Yes | Yes |
| Dewpoint | Yes | Yes |
| Wind Direction | Yes | Yes |
| Wind Speed | Yes | Yes |
| Wind Gusts | No | Yes |
| Probability of Precipitation Occurring on the hour | Yes | Yes |
| Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of precipitation on the hour | Yes | Yes |
| Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 6-h period | Yes | Yes |
| Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 12-h period | Yes | Yes |
| Probability of Thunderstorm Occurring in a 20-km gridbox in a 2-h period | No | Yes |
| Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of Thunderstorm in a 20-km gridbox in a 2-h period | No | Yes |
| Precipitation Type | Yes | Yes |
| Precipitation Characteristics | No | Yes |
| Sky Cover | Yes | Yes |
| Ceiling Height | Yes | Yes |
| Conditional Ceiling Height | No | Yes |
| Visibility | Yes | Yes |
| Conditional Visibility | No | Yes |
| Obstruction to Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Quantitative Precipitation Forecast | Yes | Planned |
| Three Cloud Layers | Yes | Planned |
For more details about the new system, please visit our web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2007 September
LAMP Change Notice
WEDNESDAY JUNE 20, 2007
Attention LAMP users:
Effective on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 new stations will be added to certain elements of the GFS-MOS (TIN 07-42). This change will impact GFS-LAMP, on that same date, in the following ways:
GFS-LAMP will begin producing precipitation characteristics guidance for 144 additional stations for the cycles of 0300, 0900, 1500, and 2100 UTC.
GFS-LAMP will begin producing precipitation characteristics guidance for 213 additional stations for the cycles of 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC.
GFS-LAMP will begin producing visibility, obstruction to vision, and conditional visibility guidance for 69 additional stations for the cycles of 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC.
The additions to precipitation characteristics will only impact the GFS-LAMP BUFR Product. The changes in visibility, obstruction to visibility, and conditional visibility will add lines to the GFS-LAMP text bulletin for the affected cycles in addition to adding guidance for these stations in the GFS-LAMP BUFR Product. See below for the specific GFS-LAMP BUFR and Text Product headers that will be affected by this change.
GFS-LAMP Text Product : FOUS11 KWNO LAVUSA
GFS-LAMP BUFR Products: JSMF11 KWNO
JSMF12 KWNO
JSMF13 KWNO
JSMF14 KWNO
JSMF15 KWNO
JSMF16 KWNO
JSMF17 KWNO
To view the GFS-MOS TIN 07-42 detailing the change referenced above, see https://www.weather.gov/notification/archive.
To view a table detailing the new stations and how their guidance will change, see
https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp-cn-tbl.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Scott Scallion
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2007 January
Notification of Removal of NGM-LAMP
.
LAMP Announcement
December 07, 2006
Updated: January 23, 2007
Attention LAMP users:
The LAMP system, which provides an update to the MOS guidance, is being redeveloped to update the GFS MOS guidance instead of updating the older NGM MOS guidance. The initial four cycles of the GFS-MOS based LAMP (GFS-LAMP) guidance became operational in July 2006. Beginning in 2007, the GFS-LAMP will provide operational guidance for as many (and eventually more) cycles as the NGM-MOS based LAMP (NGM-LAMP), and the NGM-LAMP will no longer be necessary.
Beginning with the OB8.1 release of AWIPS, we expect that there will be at least as many cycles of the GFS-LAMP guidance as the NGM-LAMP guidance. At that time, the NGM-LAMP system will be removed from AWIPS according to the approved OB8.1 content of the System Recommendation & Evaluation Committee (SREC). With the AWIPS OB8.1 release, the NGM-LAMP guidance will no longer be available, and the NGM-LAMP software will no longer run locally at CONUS WFOs in AWIPS. The product will be discontinued.
In response to the discontinuation of the NGM-LAMP in AWIPS, on or around November 1, 2007 the NGM-LAMP guidance will cease to be available on the NWS LAMP web site https://www.weather.gov/mdl/lamp_ngmlamp.
Users are encouraged to prepare for the discontinuation of the NGM-LAMP well in advance of this time. The new GFS-LAMP guidance is currently available, and will continue to be available after the removal of the NGM-LAMP, and is intended to be used as a replacement for the NGM-LAMP. Information about the GFS-LAMP, including the real-time GFS-LAMP guidance, is available at the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp.
For your reference, key differences between the NGM-based LAMP system and the GFS-based LAMP system are summarized below. Please note that the GFS LAMP does not currently provide guidance for either Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF) or Cloud Layer Amounts and Heights for 3 layers of clouds. It is possible that these elements may be developed in the future for GFS LAMP. The new GFS LAMP will provide guidance for categorical Ceiling Height and Total Sky Cover.
|
Category |
Current (NGM-based) LAMP |
New (GFS-based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
|
Updates |
NGM MOS |
GFS MOS |
|
Runs |
Locally in AWIPS |
Centrally on NCEP computers |
|
Distribution |
Within AWIPS, NWS ftp server, experimentally on web |
Across NOAAport, SBN, NWS ftp server, experimentally on web, National Digital Guidance Database, received in AWIPS and at NWS National Centers |
|
Cycles |
Every 3 hours |
Every hour (planned) |
|
Projections |
Hourly out 20 hours |
Hourly out 25 hours |
|
Coverage |
CONUS |
CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico (Thunderstorm guidance available over CONUS only) |
|
Stations |
~ 1000 stations |
> 1500-1600 Stations (depending on the cycle) |
Key differences between the NGM-based LAMP forecast elements and the GFS-based LAMP forecast elements are summarized below:
|
Element |
Current (NGM-based) LAMP |
New (GFS -based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
|
Temperature |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Dewpoint |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Wind Direction |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Wind Speed |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Wind Gusts |
No |
Yes |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring on the Hour |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of precipitation on the Hour |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 6-h period |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 12-h period |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Probability of Thunderstorm Occurring in a 20-km gridbox in a 2-h period |
No |
Yes |
|
Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of thunderstorm in a 20-km gridbox in a 2-h period |
No |
Yes |
|
Precipitation Type |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Precipitation Characteristics |
No |
Yes |
|
Sky Cover |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Ceiling Height |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Conditional Ceiling Height |
No |
Yes |
|
Visibility |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Conditional Visibility |
No |
Yes |
|
Obstruction to Vision |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Quantitative Precipitation Forecast |
Yes |
Not Planned |
|
Three Cloud Layers |
Yes |
Not Planned |
For more details about the new system, please visit our web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 August 28
LAMP Change Notice
MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective on Monday, August 28, 2006 the GFS-LAMP guidance meteograms will be replaced with a new format. The JAVA Virtual Machine will be utilized to allow the user to customize the meteograms to their own preferences. Previous and verified forecasts along with Thunderstorm guidance will be represented on the new meteograms. Text bulletins for the corresponding station will also be able to be viewed from the new page. See an example screenshot below.
To access the meteograms once they become available please see https://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/gfslamp/meteoform.php. *
To access the meteograms for a specific site, the link below can be used. Substitute the station's call letters for STATION.
https://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/gfslamp/meteodata.php?BackHour=0&sta=STATION
&TempBox=Y&DewBox=Y&SkyBox=Y&WindSpdBox=Y&WindGustBox=Y
&WindDirBox=Y&CigBox=Y&VisBox=Y&ObvBox=Y&PopoBox=Y&TStormBox=Y&PtypeBox=Y *
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Jeremy Schulz
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 August 23
LAMP Change Notice
TUESDAY AUGUST 22, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective August 23, 2006, a modification to the GFS-LAMP guidance for precipitation characteristics in BUFR format will be implemented. This modification is necessary to correctly reclassify the categories of the GFS LAMP precipitation characteristics guidance (drizzle, continuous, and showers) in BUFR format to be consistent with the BUFR definitions of this element.
Prior to this fix, the GFS LAMP precipitation characteristics in BUFR format were being categorized as:
1 = showers
2 = drizzle
3 = continuous
However, the correct definition for these categories of precipitation characteristics in BUFR format are:
1 = drizzle
2 = continuous
3 = showers
as specified in our documentation https://vlab.noaa.gov/documents/6609493/7858387/BufrLAMPCategory05.pdf (pdf).
If you have been using this BUFR field, and interpreting the categories as the documentation indicates, note that they were misaligned and not what they were documented to be. For example, if the guidance indicated "1" for a station, the documentation indicates that is drizzle, but the actual LAMP forecast was for showers. The LAMP software should have mapped the "1" to a "3" which would have correctly indicated showers according to the documentation.
Effective with the 2100 UTC cycle on August 23, 2006, the software will be modified to fix these categorizations so that they are consistent with the BUFR documentation. This web site will be updated to indicate the cycle with which the change takes place once that information is known.
This only affects the GFS LAMP BUFR product, and only the BUFR descriptor element of 0 60 092 Conditional Precipitation Forecast (categories)
We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. Please let us know if you see any problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 August 8
LAMP Change Notice
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 09, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective on August 8, 2006 the GFS-LAMP guidance became available on the NWS FTP server. GFS LAMP guidance is available in the following formats: ASCII, BUFR, and GRIB2. For details about these products and how to access them from the NWS FTP server, please refer to https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp-nws-webservices-page.
For details regarding the ASCII text product see https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp-card-2.3.0.
For details regarding the BUFR product see https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp-bufr.
For details regarding the GRIB2 products see https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp-grib2.
Please note that these products are now in the operational stage, and are supported operationally. Please let us know if you notice any problems.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 August 3
Notice of Flaw in GFS-LAMP Thunderstorm Forecasts
THURSDAY JULY 27, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
The GFS-based LAMP thunderstorm probability and categorical forecasts, which became official in the NWS on 25 July 2006, presently contain a noticeable problem. The problem consists of choppiness/roughness in the forecast patterns and a slight degradation in accuracy. A fix for the problem is presently scheduled for implementation on or about August 1st.
The following image is an example that contains the flaw.
The following image is an example of our fix.
Please let us know if you see any further problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Dr. Jerome Charba and Jerry Wiedenfeld
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 July
LAMP Change Notice
MONDAY JULY 17, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective on or about July 20, 2006 the GFS-LAMP guidance from the 1500 UTC cycle will be available on the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp. This is in addition to the currently running 03 UTC, 09 UTC, and 21 UTC cycles. Guidance from the most recent cycle will automatically display when the LAMP bulletin or meteogram is selected.
GFS-LAMP Thunderstorm Guidance will now also be available in bulletin form for the 15 UTC cycle.
Our next GFS-LAMP cycle to be available will be 00 UTC during early fall.
Please note that these products are still in the experimental stage, and are not supported operationally. Please let us know if you notice any problems.
Please let us know if you see any problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Jerry Wiedenfeld
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 June 6
LAMP Change Notice
MONDAY JUNE 06, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective 2100 UTC June 6, 2006 the GFS-LAMP guidance for precipitation type will be available for the Alaskan stations. In general precipitation type will be available for only Alaskan stations during the period of June 1 through August 31. From September 1 through May 31 GFS-LAMP precipitation type guidance will be available for all GFS-MOS stations that provide guidance for precipitation type.
Please note that these products are still in the experimental stage, and are not supported operationally. Please let us know if you notice any problems.
Please let us know if you see any problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Jerry Wiedenfeld
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 June 5
LAMP Change Notice
MONDAY JUNE 05, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective June 5, 2006 the GFS-LAMP guidance from the 0300 UTC cycle will be available on the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp. This is in addition to the currently running 09 UTC and 21 UTC cycles. Guidance from the most recent cycle will automatically display when the LAMP bulletin or meteogram is selected.
GFS-LAMP Thunderstorm Guidance will now also be available in bulletin form for the 03 UTC cycle.
Our next GFS-LAMP cycle to be available will be 15 UTC, on or about July 1st, 2006.
Please note that these products are still in the experimental stage, and are not supported operationally. Please let us know if you notice any problems.
Please let us know if you see any problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 May 8
LAMP Change Notice
MONDAY MAY 08, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective May 8, 2006 the GFS-LAMP Thunderstorm guidance from the 03 UTC, 15 UTC, and 21 UTC cycles will be available on the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp. This is in addition to the currently running 09 UTC cycle. Guidance from the most recent cycle will automatically display when the new graphics are created.
LAMP thunderstorm guidance at stations is available in both 09 and 21 UTC cycles in the LAMP text bulletin.
Please note that these products are still in the experimental stage, and are not supported operationally. Please let us know if you notice any problems.
Please let us know if you see any problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 May 1
LAMP Change Notice
MONDAY MAY 01, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
Effective May 1, 2006 the GFS-LAMP guidance from the 21 UTC cycle will be available on the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp. This is in addition to the currently running 09 UTC cycle. Guidance from the most recent cycle, either 09 or 21 UTC, will automatically display when the LAMP bulletin or meteogram is selected.
As of now, the thunderstorm guidance in graphical format is only available from the 09 UTC cycle. LAMP thunderstorm guidance at stations is available in both 09 and 21 UTC cycles in the LAMP text bulletin. The thunderstorm graphics for the 2100 UTC cycle will be forthcoming, and a notice will be sent out when they are available.
Our next GFS-LAMP cycle to be available will be 03 UTC, on or about June 1st, 2006.
Please note that these products are still in the experimental stage, and are not supported operationally. Please let us know if you notice any problems.
Please let us know if you see any problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 March
LAMP Change Notice
WEDNESDAY MARCH 15, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
On Thursday March 16, 2006, the 0900 UTC guidance for thunderstorms in a 2-hr period will be added to the GFS-LAMP bulletin available at:
https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp
During the week of March 20, images depicting the LAMP thunderstorm guidance will also become available on the web site.
Please let us know if you see any problems or have any questions.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
2006 January
Localized Aviation MOS Program
LAMP Announcement
January 19, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
The LAMP system, which currently provides an update to the NGM MOS guidance, is currently being redeveloped to update the more modern GFS MOS guidance. Beginning on or around January 23, 2006, the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp will contain information about the new GFS-LAMP system. At this site, you will be able to find experimental guidance from the redeveloped system, in addition to technical information about the new system. This web site is experimental, contains experimental products, and is not supported 24x7. However, as with the current NGM-based LAMP system, please contact us if you notice that the data are old, and we will try to rectify the situation as soon as we can.
As of January 2006, one GFS LAMP cycle is nearing completion, and that is the 0900 UTC cycle. Our next cycle will be 2100 UTC, and will be available on this web site in an experimental mode in Spring 2006.
For more details about the new system, please visit our web site.
Key differences between the NGM-based LAMP system and the GFS-based LAMP system are summarized below:
|
Category |
Current (NGM-based) LAMP |
New (GFS-based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
|
Updates |
NGM MOS |
GFS MOS |
|
Runs |
Locally in AWIPS |
Centrally on NCEP computers |
|
Distribution |
Within AWIPS, NWS ftp server, experimentally on web |
Across NOAAport, SBN, NWS ftp server experimentally on web, received in AWIPS and at NWS National Centers |
|
Cycles |
Every 3 hours |
Every hour (planned) |
|
Projections |
Hourly out 20 hours |
Hourly out 25 hours |
|
Coverage |
CONUS |
CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico (Thunderstorm guidance available over CONUS only) |
|
Stations |
~ 1000 stations |
> 1500 Stations |
Key differences between the NGM-based LAMP forecast elements and the GFS-based LAMP forecast elements are summarized below:
|
Element |
Current (NGM-based) LAMP |
New (GFS -based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
|
Temperature |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Dewpoint |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Wind Direction |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Wind Speed |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Wind Gusts |
No |
Planned |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring on the Hour |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of precipitation on the Hour |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 6-h period |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 12-h period |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Probability of Thunderstorm Occurring in a 20-km gridbox in a 2-h period |
No |
Planned |
|
Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of thunderstorm in a 20-km gridbox in a 2-h period |
No |
Planned |
|
Precipitation Type |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Precipitation Characteristics |
No |
Planned |
|
Sky Cover |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Ceiling Height |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Conditional Ceiling Height |
No |
Planned |
|
Visibility |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Conditional Visibility |
No |
Planned |
|
Obstruction to Vision |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Quantitative Precipitation Forecast |
Yes |
Not Planned |
|
Cloud Layers |
Yes |
Not Planned |
Text and graphical guidance for the 0900 UTC cycle for the above GFS-LAMP elements will be available on the web site starting on or about January 23, 2006, with the following exceptions: Probability of thunderstorms, best category of thunderstorms occurring, precipitation type, and conditional ceiling height. Guidance for these elements will be available on the web site as soon as they are thoroughly tested. In addition, probability of precipitation in a 12-hour period and precipitation characteristics will be available only via the BUFR formatted data. They will not be available in a text format.
The NGM-based LAMP guidance will continue to be available on the web site until such time that the product is no longer an operational product in AWIPS.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP
LAMP Announcement
January 6, 2006
Attention LAMP users:
The LAMP system, which currently provides an update to the NGM MOS guidance, is currently being redeveloped to update the more modern GFS MOS guidance. Beginning on or around January 17, 2006, the web site https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/mdl/lamp will contain information about the new GFS-LAMP system. At this site, you will be able to find experimental guidance from the redeveloped system, in addition to technical information about the new system. This web site is experimental, contains experimental products, and is not supported 24x7. However, as with the current NGM-based LAMP system, please contact us if you notice that the data are old, and we will try to rectify the situation as soon as we can.
As of January 2006, one GFS LAMP cycle is nearing completion, and that is the 0900 UTC cycle. Our next cycle will be 2100 UTC, and will be available on this web site in an experimental mode in Spring 2006.
For more details about the new system, please visit our web site.
Key differences between the NGM-based LAMP system and the GFS-based LAMP system are summarized below:
|
Category |
Current (NGM-based) LAMP |
New (GFS-based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
|
Updates |
NGM MOS |
GFS MOS |
|
Runs |
Locally in AWIPS |
Centrally on NCEP computers |
|
Distribution |
Within AWIPS, NWS ftp server, experimentally on web |
Across NOAAport, SBN, NWS ftp server experimentally on web, received in AWIPS and at NWS National Centers |
|
Cycles |
Every 3 hours |
Every hour (planned) |
|
Projections |
Hourly out 20 hours |
Hourly out 25 hours |
|
Coverage |
CONUS |
CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico (Thunderstorm guidance available over CONUS only) |
|
Stations |
~ 1000 stations |
> 1500 Stations |
Key differences between the NGM-based LAMP forecast elements and the GFS-based LAMP forecast elements are summarized below:
|
Element |
Current (NGM-based) LAMP |
New (GFS -based) LAMP |
|---|---|---|
|
Temperature |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Dewpoint |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Wind Direction |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Wind Speed |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Wind Gusts |
No |
Planned |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring on the Hour |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of precipitation on the Hour |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 6-h period |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Probability of Precipitation Occurring in a 12-h period |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Probability of Thunderstorm Occurring in a 20-km in a 2-h period |
No |
Planned |
|
Best Category (yes/no) for Occurrence of thunderstorm in a 20-km gridbox in a 2-h period |
No |
Planned |
|
Precipitation Type |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Precipitation Characteristics |
No |
Planned |
|
Sky Cover |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Ceiling Height |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Conditional Ceiling Height |
No |
Planned |
|
Visibility |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Conditional Visibility |
No |
Planned |
|
Obstruction to Vision |
Yes |
Planned |
|
Quantitative Precipitation Forecast |
Yes |
Not Planned |
|
Cloud Layers |
Yes |
Not Planned |
Text and graphical guidance for the 0900 UTC cycle for the above GFS-LAMP elements will be available on the web site starting on or about January 17, 2006, with the following exceptions: Probability of thunderstorms, best category of thunderstorms occurring, precipitation type, and conditional ceiling height. Guidance for these elements will be available on the web site as soon as they are thoroughly tested. In addition, probability of precipitation in a 12-hour period and precipitation characteristics will be available only via the BUFR formatted data. They will not be available in a text format.
The NGM-based LAMP guidance will continue to be available on the web site until such time that the product is no longer an operational product in AWIPS.
Thank you for your interest in LAMP.
Judy Ghirardelli
NWS/OST/MDL/LAMP