What/How it is....

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The NWSRFS typically develops deterministic stage forecasts for a few days into the future.
These forecasts are primarily produced with only historical and real-time data.

In some cases 24-hour quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) are also used in order to increase lead time of real time forecasts.
For increased lead time from days to weeks, it is critical to include future temperature and precipitation forecasts at all time scales out to seasonal.
Enhancements to river forecasting include the combined use of deterministic and probabilistic procedures, i.e., the Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (ESP).