With the development of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), most of its 11 constituent Regional Associations have fostered the implementation of real-time, pre-operational and R&D coastal ocean circulation (& related) modeling systems. In the context of the overall meeting’s theme of environmental prediction and the associated session addressing the federal, pre-operational, transitional, and operational modeling systems, this session aims to survey this modeling cohort for its present status and lessons learned. For example, there is interest in (1) the adequacy of observational and larger scale model data to support regional modeling activities, (2) the efficacy of extant scientific and application metrics for skill assessments, and (3) the experience gained interacting with forecasters and other users, plus a variety of other such topics. An area of particular interest is the coupling of regional ocean circulation models to wave and storm surge models, atmospheric models, hydrological models, ecosystem models, etc.