Rapid Refresh (RAP)
Composite reflectivity
Surface Temperature
850 mb Relative Humidity
850 mb Wind
250 mb Wind
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The Rapid Refresh is the continental-scale NOAA hourly-updated assimilation/modeling system operational at NCEP. RAP covers North America and is comprised primarily of a numerical forecast model and an analysis/assimilation system to initialize that model. RAP is complemented by the higher-resolution 3km High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model, which is also updated hourly and covering a smaller geographic domain.
- RAPv1 - implemented 1 May 2012 at NCEP (replacing the Rapid Update Cycle - RUC )
- RAPv2 - implemented 25 Feb 2014 at NCEP
- RAPv3 - implemented 23 Aug 2016 at NCEP
- RAPv4 - implemented 12 July 2018 at NCEP
- RAPv5 - implemented 12z Wed 2 Dec 2020 at NCEP
(run experimentally at GSD since spring 2019)
Information available in RAPv5/HRRRv4 summary - Jan 2020
NCEP implementations of 3km
HRRR
(run experimentally at GSD/GSL since spring 2019)
Complete RAP (v1-v3) description in
Benjamin et al. 2016,
A North American Hourly Assimilation and Model Forecast Cycle: The Rapid Refresh.
Mon. Wea. Rev., 144, 1669-1694.
Recent RAP/HRRR presentations
High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR - 3km)
Access to real-time and archive RAP grids