Effective August 16, 2007 at 1200 UTC – the following elements in the NDFD will be upgraded to operational status for the following domains:

• Significant Wave Height element for the CONUS and the 16 pre-defined NDFD CONUS subsectors, Puerto Rico/the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Guam
• Six (6) Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speed elements (see Table 1, below) for the CONUS and the 16 pre-defined NDFD CONUS subsectors

The significant wave height change was announced in Technical Implementation Notice (TIN) 07-32. The change for the six Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speed elements was announced in TIN 07-31.

With this upgrade to operational status, all of these elements will be archived by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) . See the NDFD Access Data web page for information on accessing operational NDFD elements from NCDC's archive.

As with all NDFD elements, these elements are accessible via several methods in various formats:

• Pull Gridded Binary (GRIB2) files via anonymous file transfer protocol (ftp)
• Refer to the NDFD Access Data web page
• See also General access to data and products on NWS file servers
• NDFD graphical forecasts
• NDFD eXtensible Markup Language (XML) via web service
• NDFD Elements via Web Feature Service (WFS)

Partners and customers who access one or more of these elements via anonymous ftp may need to update their procedures and scripts to continue to access these elements once they become operational. Detailed information for ftp users is included below.

Customers who use the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) superheadings for these elements should refer to:

• NDFD Significant Wave Height element WMO superheadings, pdf
• NDFD Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speed elements WMO superheadings, pdf

Customers who use the NDFD graphical forecasts , the NDFD XML via web service, and NDFD WFS can use the same methods they currently use to continue to acquire and use these NDFD elements. The change in status of these elements is transparent to these users with regard to accessing and processing the data.

Questions or feedback? Please e-mail nws.ndfd@noaa.gov or complete a Customer Survey:

GRIB2 file users

Graphics users

NDFD XML

NDFD WFS

Other useful NDFD web pages:

• NDFD Access Data web page for information about NDFD elements and how to access them in real time or from the archive
• NDFD Element Status Table (status of all elements for all domains)
• NDFD-related Product Description Documents and Service Description Documents
• NDFD Element Definitions
• Information on GRIB2 format and a GRIB2 decoder
• The 16 predefined NDFD CONUS subsectors
  • .gif images (Need to scroll down a bit to get the sector info)
  • Flash application (rollover display)

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Associated ftp changes for this implementation:

On May 31, 2007 at 1200 UTC, GRIB2 files for Significant Wave Height and the six Tropical Cyclone Wind Speed Forecast elements in NDFD will:

• Start being posted to the operational NDFD ftp subdirectories for the affected domains (see Table 1, below), and
• Cease being posted in the current experimental NDFD ftp subdirectories for the same domains

Because the physical location (i.e., URL) of the element files changes when the status changes from experimental to operational, partners and customers who access one or more of these elements via anonymous ftp may need to update their procedures and/or scripts to continue to access these elements once they become operational.

A specific list of the current (experimental) and future (operational) subdirectory URLs to access these elements is shown below. There will be no overlap of data between the operational subdirectories and the experimental subdirectories. Once an element becomes operational and moves to the operational grid subdirectory on May 31 at 1200 UTC, no new files for that element will be posted in the experimental subdirectory. A few hours after the affected files have successfully posted to the operational subdirectory, the obsolete files will be deleted from the associated experimental subdirectories.

The file names for these elements within the ftp subdirectories remain the same. All of these NDFD elements extend through 5 days.

Table 1. NDFD Elements in this implementation and their associated ftp filenames

NDFD Elements – to become Operational in NDFD May 31, 2007 Refer to TINs 07-31 and 07-32	ftp filename	Appropriate domains
Significant Wave Height	ds.waveh.bin	CONUS the 16 pre-defined CONUS subsectors Puerto Rico/the Virgin Islands Hawaii Guam
Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speeds > 34 knots (incremental)	ds.tcwspdabv34i.bin	CONUS the 16 pre-defined CONUS subsectors
Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speeds > 34 knots (cumulative)	ds.tcwspdabv34c.bin	CONUS the 16 pre-defined CONUS subsectors
Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speeds > 50 knots (incremental)	ds.tcwspdabv50i.bin	CONUS the 16 pre-defined CONUS subsectors
Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speeds > 50 knots (cumulative)	ds.tcwspdabv50c.bin	CONUS the 16 pre-defined CONUS subsectors
Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speeds > 64 knots (incremental)	ds.tcwspdabv64i.bin	CONUS the 16 pre-defined CONUS subsectors
Probabilistic Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speeds > 64 knots (cumulative)	ds.tcwspdabv64c.bin	CONUS the 16 pre-defined CONUS subsectors

Current (experimental) and future (operational) subdirectory URLs to access these elements via anonymous ftp for each affected NDFD domain: 

• CONUS
• Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands
• Hawaii
• Guam
• 16 predefined CONUS subsectors:
• Pacific Northwest
• Pacific Southwest
• Northern Rockies
• Central Rockies
• Southern Rockies
• Northern Plains
• Central Plains
• Southern Plains
• Upper Mississippi Valley
• Central Mississippi Valley
• Southern Mississippi Valley
• Central Great Lakes
• Eastern Great Lakes
• Northeast
• Southeast
• Mid-Atlantic

The National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) CONUS Mosaic:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.conus/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.conus/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.conus/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.conus/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

16 Pre-Defined NDFD CONUS Subsectors:

1) Pacific Northwest subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacnwest/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacnwest/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacnwest/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacnwest/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

2) Pacific Southwest subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacswest/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacswest/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacswest/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.pacswest/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

3) Northern Rockies subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nrockies/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nrockies/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nrockies/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nrockies/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

4) Central Rockies subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crrocks/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crrocks/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crrocks/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crrocks/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

5) Southern Rockies subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.srockies/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.srockies/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.srockies/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.srockies/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

6) Northern Plains subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nplains/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nplains/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nplains/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.nplains/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

7) Central Plains subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crplains/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crplains/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crplains/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crplains/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

8) Southern Plains subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.splains/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.splains/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.splains/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.splains/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

9) Upper Mississippi Valley subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.umissvly/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.umissvly/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.umissvly/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.umissvly/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

10) Central Mississippi Valley subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crmissvy/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crmissvy/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crmissvy/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crmissvy/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

11) Southern Mississippi Valley subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.smissvly/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.smissvly/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.smissvly/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.smissvly/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

12) Central Great Lakes subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crgrlake/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crgrlake/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crgrlake/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.crgrlake/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

13) Eastern Great Lakes subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.ergrlake/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.ergrlake/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.ergrlake/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.ergrlake/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

14) North East subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.neast/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.neast/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.neast/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.neast/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

15) South East subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.seast/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.seast/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.seast/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.seast/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

16) Mid Atlantic subsector:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, all elements in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.midatlan/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.midatlan/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.midatlan/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.midatlan/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, the significant wave height element in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.puertori/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.puertori/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.puertori/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.puertori/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

Hawaii:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, the significant wave height element in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.hawaii/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.hawaii/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.hawaii/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.hawaii/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

Guam:

On 5/31/07 at 1200 UTC, the significant wave height element in Table 1 will be added to the NDFD Operational directories:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.guam/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.guam/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)

and deleted from the associated NDFD Experimental directory:

ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.guam/VP.001-003/ (Days 1-3)
and
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.expr/DF.gr2/DC.ndfd/AR.guam/VP.004-007/ (Days 4-7)