Validation of forecast grids over complex terrain remains a difficult problem. Initial attempts at verifying experimental forecasts over the western United States issued by National Weather Service forecasters using the Interactive Forecast Preparation System (IFPS) are presented. Forecast grids of temperature and wind issued during the Operational Readiness Demonstration period, 16 June - 15 July 2003, are evaluated and compared to objective analysis grids derived by the ARPS Data Assimilation System (ADAS). ADAS grids of surface temperature, wind, and relative humidity at horizontal resolutions of 10 km and 2.5 km reflect an adjustment of the Rapid Update Cycle gridded fields by local observations provided by MesoWest (www.met.utah.edu/mesowest).