Hello everyone!

In an effort to break down the long list of terms you may see in my discussions or in the discussions of others, here is a list of the model acronyms I often use. While occasionally there will be others, these are the ones I use most often.

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CMC: Canadian Meteorological Centre which provides forecasts for Canada and also hosts the CMC model which provides model output for the whole world. The CMC model is run twice a day.

ECMWF: Euro Model. The most accurate model out there run by the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting. It is run twice a day. Since it is a private company, they charge a premium for full access to the model. Crude images for every 24 hours are available through the Penn State E-wall.

GFS: Global Forecast System. Forecast model run by the US Government 4x a day for the whole world. Generally considered the second best model after the Euro.

JMA: Japanese Meteorological Agency. Crude model run by our friends across the other pond that is useful mainly for large scale events like Nor’easters.

NAM: North American Model. Hi resolution model run 4x a day for North America. Has a number of entertaining biases that make for good laughs. Known well to drop WAY too much precip.