FV3 GFS

[Mitchel Volk]

Does anyone know when does this model goes operational

[griteater]

FV3 goes operational in June if all goes well with the final 30 day technical test

https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/pns19-09gfs_v15_1.pdf

[WidreMann]

Looks like it will still have issues with being too cold and snowy in the medium-range.

[ncskywarn]

It went operational as of the 12Z run today.- (12 Jun 2019) The operational GFS has been upgraded to the FV3 core as of this morning's 12z run.

[RU848789]

Here's the NOAA press release.  No mention of what seemed like poor performance with overpredicting snowfall all last winter.  Performance was only addressed in a general fashion as performing "better" than the old GFS, which will be retired in September of this year.  I assume the "GFS" on Tropical Tidbits and Pivotal and other sources is now the GFS-FV3 (Pivotal still lists "GFS-Legacy" which presumably is the old GFS).  

"The GFS upgrade underwent rigorous testing led by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Environmental Modeling Center and NCEP Central Operations that included more than 100 scientists, modelers, programmers and technicians from around the country. With real-time evaluations for a year alongside the previous version of the GFS, NOAA carefully documented the strengths of each. When tested against historic weather dating back an additional three years, the upgraded FV3-based GFS performed better across a wide range of weather phenomena.

The scientific and performance evaluation shows that the upgraded FV3-based GFS provides results equal to or better than the current global model in many measures. This upgrade establishes the foundation to further advancements in the future as we improve observation quality control, data assimilation, and the model physics."

https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-upgrades-us-global-weather-forecast-model