National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Tropical Storm Milton Strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico; Dangerous Heat in the Southwest

A late season heat wave will continue across portions of California into the Desert Southwest. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Milton is strengthening in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. Milton is expected to become a major hurricane and bring significant impacts to Florida this upcoming week. Read More >

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Tail/Head/Cross Wind:
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                       Select parameters above and/or stations below, then press "Display"
 
Eastern US *
   BOS Boston (04/22, 09/27, 14/32, 15/33)
   LGA New York - LaGuardia (04/22, 13/31)
   JFK New York - Kennedy (04/22, 13/31)
   EWR Newark (04/22, 11/29)
   CLE Cleveland (06/24, 10/28)
   CVG Cincinnati (09/27, 18/36)
   PHL Philadelphia (08/26, 09/27, 17/35)
   PIT Pittsburg (10/28, 14/32)
   BWI Baltimore (04/22, 10/28, 15/33)
   IAD Washington DC - Dulles (01/19, 12/30)
   DCA Washington DC - National (01/19, 04/22, 15/33)
   RDU Raleigh-Durham (05/23, 14/32)
   CLT Charlotte/Douglas (05/23, 18/36)

Central US *
   DEN Denver (07/25, 08/26, 16/34, 17/35)
   MSP Minneapolis (04/22, 12/30, 17/35)
   ORD Chicago - O'Hare (04/22, 09/27, 10/28, 14/32)
   MDW Chicago - Midway (04/22, 13/31)
   DTW Detroit (03/21, 04/22, 09/27)
   IND Indianapolis (05/23, 14/32)
   STL St. Louis (06/24, 11/29, 12/30)
   MCI Kansas City (01/19, 09/27)
Southern US *
   DFW Dallas-Fort Worth (13/31, 17/35, 18/36)
   IAH Houston (08/26, 09/27, 15/33)
   MEM Memphis (09/27, 18/36)
   BNA Nashville (02/20, 13/31)
   MSY New Orleans (2/20, 11/29)
   ATL Atlanta (08/26, 09/27, 10/28)
   TPA Tampa Bay (18/36)
   MCO Orlando (17/35, 18/36)
   FLL Fort Lauderdale (09/27, 13/31)
   MIA Miami (09/27, 08/26, 12/30)
   TJSJ San Juan (08/26, 10/28)

Western US *
   SEA Seattle (16/34)
   PDX Portland (03/21, 10/28)
   SFO San Francisco (01/19, 10/28)
   SJC San Jose (11/29, 12/30)
   LAX Los Angeles (06/24, 07/25)
   SAN San Diego (09/27)
   SLC Salt Lake City (14/32, 16/34, 17/35)
   LAS Las Vegas (01/19, 07/25)
   PHX Phoenix (07/25, 08/26)
   PANC Anchorage (07/25, 15/33)
   PAFA Fairbanks (08/26)
   PAJN Juneau (02/20)
   PHNL Honolulu (08/26, 04/22)
 

The above airports are in the format:   ID Name (Runways)

Once the VWP is displayed, you can click on it to save the image.
If you click on "Site", "Runway", "Model", or "Help" you will return to this information.

* Some models may not be available


The resulting graphic displays forecast vertical wind profiles over the selected location from the surface up to 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, or 20,000 feet AGL.
The graphic is updated based on the latest run of the HRRR, RAP, HiResW, NAM, or GFS model.
You can also select "Multiple" to toggle among the models for a specific set of parameters.
Wind speeds are color-coded with with speeds 28-37kt displayed in blue, 38-47kt in pink, and winds greater than 47kt in red.
Wind direction is indicated by the staff using a 360° compass, where 180° indicates a south wind and 360° a north wind.
Tailwind/headwind is bold when ≥30kt and crosswind is bold when ≥15kt.
The airport declination is included in tailwind/headwind/crosswind calculations for most Pacific NW and major US airports.
The solid red line indicates the highest forecast freezing level over time.
Hovering over the data points will give you more information when "tooltips" are turned on.
Clicking toward the bottom of the image will download/save the model VWP image.
In addition to the sites in the menus, most US TAF and BUFKIT sites also should be available. Update the URL to include the site ID (https://www.weather.gov/zse/ZSEModelVWP?site=___ , where ___ is the site ID).

Calcuations of low level wind shear (LLWS) are made from the surface to the top of each near-surface (≤2,000 ft AGL) sigma level.
Table output represents the layer with the highest LLWS (speed-height). Height of the layer is in hundreds of feet AGL.
NSS (No Significant Shear) is used when LLWS <5kt. LLWS >20kt is displayed in dark red, LLWS >30kt in bold lighter red.

January 2020 Updates:
Added hover tooltips for plotted data points.
Added Wind Barb-Vertical Velocity and Temperature-Height-RH-Vertical Velocity-Wind Barb plots.
Updated declinations to grab data on-the-fly from https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/calculators/magcalc.shtml .

October 2020 Update:
Created a horizontal model wind map page at https://www.weather.gov/zse/Wind .

May 2021 Update:
Added another source for BUFKIT data to increase reliability and to add available sites. Current sources are the National Weather Service, Iowa State, and Penn State. Also, if lat/lon are included in URL (&lat=___&lon=___&), they will be used to find a nearby station if the given station is not available.

May 2024 Update:
Added near-surface cross/tail/head-wind component to the bottom table for the selected runway configuration, along with fixing the declination retrieval.