<p>It all depends on the region you are interested on. For the North America region, you could use the North American Regional Reanalysis (<a href="http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/rreanl/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NARR</a>). <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/MCJsm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/MCJsm.png" alt="NARR footprint"></a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.narr.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NARR</a> is a "high resolution combined model and assimilated dataset. It covers 1979 to near present and is provided 8-times daily, daily and monthly". The best and easiest way to access the data is through <a href="http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/data.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NOMADS</a>. There you will find data in several different formats (netCDF, GRIB...) and it has a resolution of around 32km.</p>

<p>If your interest is in global data, then you could try the <a href="http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/reanalysis.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis</a>. It is a global reanalysis of the atmosphere from 1948 to the present with a resolution of 2.5 degrees. There is also the <a href="http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/reanalysis2/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NCEP/DOE reanalysis</a> with a similar footprint. I think you can get both of them from NOMADS.</p>

<p>All these products are reanalysis (therefore not forecast) products. If your interest is in forecast products, then you can use the North American Mesoscale (<a href="http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/data.php#hires_weather_datasets" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NAM</a>) product. It has a resolution of 12km and it is available through NOMADS. The model they are currently running is a version of the Weather Research &amp; Forecasting - Nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model (<a href="http://www.wrf-model.org/index.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">WRF-NMM</a>).</p>

<p>There is a complete list of NOAA model products available and a brief description of each in <a href="http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the NOAA NOMADS page</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-22T16:24:47.917Z
2015-12-22T16:24:47.917Z
arkaia
<p>NCDC provides <a href="http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/data.php#hires_weather_datasets" rel="nofollow">archived GFS data starting from 2004 at NOMADS</a>.  They break up the data into "Historical" (2004-2005), "Historical and near real-time" (2005-2015) and analysis-only (2004-latest full month).  There are various data access methods provided on the linked web page.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-29T01:48:11.453Z
@gansub The GFS is Global.
casey
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-28T18:12:22.353Z
2015-12-28T18:12:22.353Z
casey
<p>The National Weather Service (NWS) makes the results from its Global Forecast System model (GFS) available for download as GRIB2 files.</p>

<p>While accessing current (or recent) forecasts is straight-forward, I am looking for the archived forecasts over at least the last year, better multiple years back for the purpose of statistical analysis of predominant weather patterns in certain areas.</p>

<p>Does anybody know how to access this information?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-22T16:26:03.127Z
Welcome to http://earthscience.stackexchange.com!
arkaia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-12T08:27:26.913Z
You also might look into https://mtarchive.geol.iastate.edu, they have some files that are labeled to be model data (though they seem awfully small... but that may be how it was back in the day, with much lower resolution? Or maybe they're for only certain very small areas?) Of course going back far enough, there was no GFS (mid 2000s I believe?), but you can look for the predecessor likes the AVN and MRF.  Still, unless you're specifically trying to look at how FORECAST data performed, reanalysis or even library.noaa.gov/Collections/Digital-Collections/US-Daily-Weather-Maps may be much easier
JeopardyTempest
<meteorology><weather-forecasting><atmosphere-modelling>
Historical NWS GFS forecast data
Max
# Historical NWS GFS forecast data

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-22)

The National Weather Service (NWS) makes the results from its Global Forecast System model (GFS) available for download as GRIB2 files.

While accessing current (or recent) forecasts is straight-forward, I am looking for the archived forecasts over at least the last year, better multiple years back for the purpose of statistical analysis of predominant weather patterns in certain areas.

Does anybody know how to access this information?

**Tags:** meteorology, weather-forecasting, atmosphere-modelling

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to http://earthscience.stackexchange.com!  
> **username_2**: You also might look into https://mtarchive.geol.iastate.edu, they have some files that are labeled to be model data (though they seem awfully small... but that may be how it was back in the day, with much lower resolution? Or maybe they're for only certain very small areas?) Of course going back far enough, there was no GFS (mid 2000s I believe?), but you can look for the predecessor likes the AVN and MRF.  Still, unless you're specifically trying to look at how FORECAST data performed, reanalysis or even library.noaa.gov/Collections/Digital-Collections/US-Daily-Weather-Maps may be much easier  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-12-22. Score: 3

It all depends on the region you are interested on. For the North America region, you could use the North American Regional Reanalysis ([NARR](http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/rreanl/index.html)). [![NARR footprint](https://i.sstatic.net/MCJsm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/MCJsm.png)

[NARR](http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.narr.html) is a "high resolution combined model and assimilated dataset. It covers 1979 to near present and is provided 8-times daily, daily and monthly". The best and easiest way to access the data is through [NOMADS](http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/data.php). There you will find data in several different formats (netCDF, GRIB...) and it has a resolution of around 32km.

If your interest is in global data, then you could try the [NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis](http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/reanalysis.html). It is a global reanalysis of the atmosphere from 1948 to the present with a resolution of 2.5 degrees. There is also the [NCEP/DOE reanalysis](http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/reanalysis2/index.html) with a similar footprint. I think you can get both of them from NOMADS.

All these products are reanalysis (therefore not forecast) products. If your interest is in forecast products, then you can use the North American Mesoscale ([NAM](http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/data.php#hires_weather_datasets)) product. It has a resolution of 12km and it is available through NOMADS. The model they are currently running is a version of the Weather Research & Forecasting - Nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model ([WRF-NMM](http://www.wrf-model.org/index.php)).

There is a complete list of NOAA model products available and a brief description of each in [the NOAA NOMADS page](http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov).


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### Answer by username_3 on 2015-12-28. Score: 2

NCDC provides [archived GFS data starting from 2004 at NOMADS](http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/data.php#hires_weather_datasets). They break up the data into "Historical" (2004-2005), "Historical and near real-time" (2005-2015) and analysis-only (2004-latest full month). There are various data access methods provided on the linked web page.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: @gansub The GFS is Global.  

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