Weather Balloon

Change in Morning Weather Balloon Release Cadence 8/10/26

On Monday, August 10th 2026, the morning weather balloon release at the Weather Forecast Office in Salt Lake City (WFO SLC) will move from 18 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) to 12 UTC. Converted to Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), that translates to a change from 12PM to 6AM MDT. The afternoon release will remain unchanged at 00 UTC, or 6PM MDT. No changes will be made to the transmitted data; only the release time will change.

WFO SLC moved the 12 UTC release to 18 UTC on February 22nd, 2026, due to staffing challenges and other operational constraints. Since then, scheduling solutions have been found, and vacancies have been advertised for filling. Together, these changes allow WFO SLC to return to the historical norm of 12 UTC and 00 UTC release times. 

Weather balloon release information can be found on this webpage: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/soundings/