HIRESW- HIgh RESolution Window – The HiresWindow is a dual-core modeling system run at 2.5, 3km and 5 km horizontal spacing and without parameterized convection. There are three main versions: the WRF-ARW, WRF-ARWMEM2, and the HIRESW-FV3 (Finite Volume Cubed)
The dual core refers to the two main dynamical cores: the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and the Advanced Research Weather (ARW) (combined as WRF-ARW).
There’s a also limited area configuration of the Finite Volume Cubed Sphere (FV3) core.
The primary HIRESW-ARW runs for the continental US and uses the Rapid Refresh (RAP) model for initial conditions, and the Global Forecast System (GFS) for lateral boundary conditions. The HIRESW-ARW is available in 5 km horizontal resolutions. (There are also models for Puerto Rico, Alaska and Guam run at 3km. )
(There’s also a very high resolution limited subset of the HIRESW-ARW, the HIRESW-2P5, which has a resolution of 2.5 kilometers.)
The second version, the HIRESW-ARW-MEM2 uses slightly different modeling physics which shows itself as different precipitation forecasts.
The third version, FV3 core model— the HIRESW-FV3 is initialized by interpolation of the GFS model output to generate initial and lateral boundary conditions.
The HIreSWindow ARW forecast out to 48 hours in hourly increments, while the HIRESW-FV3 extends out to 60 hours. For the continental US, these models are run twice daily, at 00z and 12z.