The Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) modeling system is the product of an unprecedented collaboration among the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) within NOAA, the U.S. Air Force Directorate of Weather, the Oceanographer of the Navy and Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Designed to be a common modeling system shared by the operational and research communities, WRF is the innovative centerpiece of a larger strategy to accelerate the scientific advancement of short-range high-resolution atmospheric modeling in the U.S. and to transfer that new science more rapidly into operations. In this presentation, we will discuss the essential partnerships involved in establishing WRF, the process required to lead several organizations to a common modeling system, and the key goals of the WRF strategy. Other talks in this session will summarize the design and development of the WRF modeling software, testing and implementation efforts underway at the nation's three operational prediction centers, and a cross section of the research applications now emerging from universities and environmental laboratories nationwide and around the world.

Through the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), NWS has worked closely with our WRF development partners at NCAR and the Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) to create a system that will take us into an era where we can anticipate covering North America with a horizontal grid as fine as 1 km. The same WRF system will be adapted for specialized applications, such as hurricane prediction, aviation weather, and fire weather support. Even global model predictions using the same WRF-based system are not out of the question. Using a single model for all these purposes, we will minimize the drain on NWS resources currently associated with maintaining several unique model codes. Consequently, we will be able to concentrate more fully on accelerating infusions of new science and prediction technologies in partnership with the research community and our sister operational centers. The result will be more accurate forecasts, at longer ranges, for a host of weather products that will help us to fulfill our mission to better serve the public and commercial interests of the nation.