The long-awaited changes to the RUC post-processing including 8 new variables and fixes to the 3h pressure tendency were put into the queue for implementation at NCEP back in early December, but the latest word is that they will not be implemented until the week of 31 Jan at the earliest. The current priority for implementation is the T170 AVN model update, so stay tuned.

In case you forgot, you can reread the 1 Dec forum posting for a little more information. The new variables are visibility, sfc wind gust speed, cloud base, cloud top, PBL height, convective cloud top, equilibrium level, and pressure of max theta-e for convective parcel. Most of these new variables can be viewed under the RUC/MAPS web site ( http://maps.fsl.noaa.gov) under "backup RUC" or "40km para".