WRF Models

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model is a next-generation mesoscale numerical weather prediction system designed for both atmospheric research and operational forecasting applications. It features two dynamical cores, a data assimilation system, and a software architecture supporting parallel computation and system extensibility. The model serves a wide range of meteorological applications across scales from tens of meters to thousands of kilometers. The effort to develop WRF began in the latter part of the 1990's and was a collaborative partnership of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (represented by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the (then) Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL)), the (then) Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA), the Naval Research Laboratory, the University of Oklahoma, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

For researchers, WRF can produce simulations based on actual atmospheric conditions (i.e., from observations and analyses) or idealized conditions. WRF offers operational forecasting a flexible and computationally-efficient platform, while reflecting recent advances in physics, numerics, and data assimilation contributed by developers from the expansive research community. WRF is currently in operational use at NCEP and other national meteorological centers as well as in real-time forecasting configurations at laboratories, universities, and private companies.