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Selected Cities and Traveler’s Forecast

About Selected Cities

Since the early 1970's, the NWS’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) have issued two widely-distributed text products, the Selected Cities Summary (SCS) and the Travelers Forecast (TAV). The SCS provides basic observations (Temperatures and Precipitation) for the previous day and 2-day forecasts of temperature and Character of Day (CoD) for 162 cities in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, while the TAV provides 2-day forecasts for 30 US cities and Puerto Rico. Each of these products is created by gathering the Coded Cities Forecasts (CCF) issued by NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) and adding previously observed weather data.

NWS instruction 10-504, “National Public Weather Forecast Products Specification,” describes the generation of the SCS as:

“NCEP’s Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) issues the Selected Cities Forecast to provide observed maximum and minimum temperatures, observed precipitation, and forecast weather and temperatures for 162 cities in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This product is heavily used by the print media and supports the public weather program.”

The SCS is a highly visible product that is issued twice daily around 0100 and 1300 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Cities covered in the SCS product are listed in alphabetical order and the product is divided into four sections to enhance readability. The range of cities covered in each section are:

  • Part 1 -- Abilene, TX through Columbus, OH
  • Part 2 -- Concord, NH through Lexington, KY
  • Part 3 -- Lincoln, NE through St. Thomas, V.I.
  • Part 4 -- Salem, OR through Yuma, AZ

The last section of Part 4 also includes the observed High and Low temperatures from the continental United States (CONUS).


Latest Traveler's Forecast

About the Traveler's Forecast

The Traveler's Forecast is an abbreviated version of the Selected Cities Forecast. The Traveler's Forecast, like Selected Cities, is transmitted twice daily, one hour before the Selected Cities. It includes temperature and weather forecasts for the next two days for 30 cities in the United States. The product consists of three sections; cities are listed in alphabetical order in each. Forecast data is obtained from Coded Cities Forecasts generated at local NWS Weather Forecast Offices.
       Page last Modified: 3 December, 2008 3:57 PM