NOUS43 KFGF 081709
PNSFGF
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-111715-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
1209 PM CDT Thu May 8 2025

…SOFTWARE UPGRADE WILL IMPACT ALL NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCASTS 
ACROSS THE NWS GRAND FORKS FORECAST AREA NEXT WEEK… 

The National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Grand 
Forks, ND will be conducting a required, scheduled update to their
Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) system. 
The update will begin around 7:00 AM on Tuesday, May 13th and 
continue through the day Wednesday, and conclude during the 
afternoon hours of Thursday, May 15th. 

The NWS uses the AWIPS computer system to display and integrate 
weather and water information, and to send life-saving 
information, such as weather and water warnings, to the public. 
During the update, forecast operations will be conducted by our 
service back-up offices in NWS Bismarck, North Dakota and NWS 
Duluth, Minnesota to minimize any potential interruption to 
services. The FGF radar, KMVX, will remain operational and its 
products will continue to be distributed as normal. The NWS Grand 
Forks office will remain open and staffed at all hours through the
update period. No impacts to our core services of forecast 
products and weather watches, warnings and advisories are expected
during this period. 

However, limited impacts will occur to the following services: 

NOAA Weather Radio Transmitters: All NOAA Weather Radio 
transmitters maintained by NWS Grand Forks will be off air through
the time of the install. This includes the following:

North Dakota Transmitters: Grand Forks, Amenia/Fargo, Fort Ransom,
Langdon, Cavalier, Webster/Devils Lake, Petersburg and Sheyenne.

Minnesota Transmitters: Thief River Falls, Roosevelt, Lake 
Bronson, Bemidji, Waubun, Detroit Lakes and Fergus Falls. 

During periods of planned or unplanned outages, it is important 
to have multiple ways to receive warning information. These 
alternative sources include: local television/radio, weather apps 
on your mobile device, such as the FEMA or Red Cross app, and at 
the NWS website at weather.gov/fgf/. 

Daily Climate Products for the FGF Climate sites. Alternative 
non-quality controlled data will be available at the following 
website during the outage: 
https://www.weather.gov/gid/ObservationMap?obType=METAR&state=
MN&state=ND&cwa=FGF.

The missing daily observational data will be entered following 
the upgrade. 

Local graphical forecast maps that are hosted in numerous places 
on www.weather.gov/fgf will not be updated. This includes all maps
on the Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook page 
(https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=fgf). 

The NWS Grand Forks, ND forecast office will be available per 
usual for phone calls, to provide weather support to partners as 
needed. For additional information or questions, please contact 
NWS Grand Forks at nws.grandforks@noaa.gov.

$$