March 19, 1995



                     A short update on the status of wgrib.



                        Current version of wgrib is 1.4



A major bug was found in wgrib.  If a very short grib message (less than
160 bytes) was the last message in a grib file, wgrib would miss it.  The
code assumed a grib message was greater 160 bytes long and just didn't look 
so close to end of the file.  The only practical grib message that is so short
is a constant field.  Since people do not usually distribute "constant fields",
the bug probably has not affected any outside users yet.  (In addition, the
constant field must be the last grib message for the bug to appear.)  


                    *** Please upgrade to wgrib v1.4 ***


Changes from v1.3 to v1.4:

o  fixed code for short grib messages near EOF (see above)
o  return code now reflects error status
o  10% speedup
o  preliminary support for grib files with no GDS (NAVY files)
     Everyone but the NAVY includes a grid-definition section (GDS) with their
     grib messages.  NAVY expects you to consult a database to figure out
     whether you are dealing with a polar stereographics or lat-long or ...
o  much faster grib write
o  updated ECMWF parameter/stream support
o  check for NMC BDS bug


The current version of wgrib and wgrib.scripts can be found on the web
at URL http://wesley.wwb.noaa.gov or by anonymous ftp at wesley.wwb.noaa.gov 
in directory /pub/wgrib/all.c.

The latest version of grib2ctl (takes a a grib file and creates a GrADS
control file) now handles the common eta/ruc/ngm polar stereographic
grids.

The March issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
will include a CD-ROM of selected Reanalysis data.  Included are 13 years
of monthly mean winds, temperature, heights etc. all easily accessable
by PC-GrADS.  Available at your local newstands soon.





                            Wesley Ebisuzaki
                            Climate Prediction Center
                            NCEP

                            (send requests to be on the mailing list to)
                            wd51we@sun1.wwb.noaa.gov