Rapid Refresh (RAP) [13 km]

The Rapid Refresh (RAP) numerical weather model took the place of the Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) on May 1, 2012. Run by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), RAP runs with two versions. The first generates weather data on a 13-km (8-mile) resolution horizontal grid and the second, the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), generates data down to a 3-km (2-mile) resolution grid for smaller regions of interest. RAP forecasts are generated every hour with forecast lengths going out 18 hours with a 1 hour temporal resolution. Multiple data sources go into the generation of RAP forecasts: commercial aircraft weather data, balloon data, radar data, surface observations, and satellite data. This dataset contains a 13 km horizontal resolution Lambert Conformal grid covering the Continental United States (CONUS) domain.