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Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) [20 km]

Published by DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 09:13 PM | Dataset Last Updated: January 01, 2005 at 12:00 AM
The Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) weather forecast model was developed by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). On May 1, 2012, the RUC was replaced by NCEP's Rapid Refresh (RAP) weather forecast model. The RUC was designed to produce quick, short-term, weather forecasts using the most currently available observations. When it was first implemented in 1994, the model was run every three hours making forecasts out to 12 hours. By 2002, the RUC was run every hour, on the hour, producing 12-hour forecasts with a 1 hour temporal resolution. This dataset contains a 20 km horizontal resolution Lambert Conformal grid covering the Continental United States (CONUS) domain.

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Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Visibility Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Geopotential Height Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Planetary Boundary Layer Height Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Tropopause Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Atmospheric Pressure Measurements Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Pressure Thickness Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Sea Level Pressure Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Surface Pressure

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.orders@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description The Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) weather forecast model was developed by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). On May 1, 2012, the RUC was replaced by NCEP's Rapid Refresh (RAP) weather forecast model. The RUC was designed to produce quick, short-term, weather forecasts using the most currently available observations. When it was first implemented in 1994, the model was run every three hours making forecasts out to 12 hours. By 2002, the RUC was run every hour, on the hour, producing 12-hour forecasts with a 1 hour temporal resolution. This dataset contains a 20 km horizontal resolution Lambert Conformal grid covering the Continental United States (CONUS) domain.
distribution 
                                            [
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00633/html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Landing page for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Product Information Page",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/weather-climate-models/rapid-refresh-update",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Description of the data and related resources.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Direct Download (Dataset Files)",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/oa/prod-model/index.html#rapid-refresh/access/historical/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Direct download for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI THREDDS",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/thredds/catalog/model-ruc252anl/catalog.html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "THREDDS Data Server (TDS) for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
    "accessURL": "https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NOAA RUC Web Site",
    "accessURL": "http://ruc.noaa.gov/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Web site providing overview and technical documentation for the RUC.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NCEI home page with information, data access and contact information.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  }
]
identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00633.xml
issued 2005-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Visibility",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Geopotential Height",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Planetary Boundary Layer Height",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Tropopause",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Atmospheric Pressure Measurements",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Pressure Thickness",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Sea Level Pressure",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Surface Pressure",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Atmospheric Stability",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Dew Point Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Potential Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Skin Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Upper Air Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Dew Point Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Total Precipitable Water",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Profiles",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Boundary Layer Winds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Convection",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Surface Winds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Upper Level Winds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Vorticity",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Profiles",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Liquid Precipitation > Rain > Freezing Rain",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Rate",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Liquid Precipitation > Rain",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Ice Pellets > Sleet",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow",
  "Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Depth",
  "Earth Science > Land Surface > Surface Thermal Properties > Land Surface Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature",
  "Continent > North America > United States Of America",
  "Vertical Location > Boundary Layer",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "Vertical Location > Sea Surface",
  "Vertical Location > Troposphere",
  "Vertical Location > Stratosphere",
  "NOMADS > The NOAA Operational Model Archive and Distribution System",
  "10 km - < 50 km or approximately .09 degree - < .5 degree",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce"
]
landingPage http://ruc.noaa.gov/
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2005-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
spatial -57.3,16.2,-139.9,59.0
temporal 2005-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/2012-05-01T00:00:00+00:00
title Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) [20 km]

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