National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Record Heat for the Intermountain West and Northern Plains; Heavy Rainfall and Severe Weather Threats

Record setting heat is expected over the next several days from the Intermountain West through the northern Plains. Furthermore, fire weather concerns increase with dry and breezy conditions. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorm threats for the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys, central Appalachians and Southeast today. The threat shifts to central Gulf Coast and across central Texas this week. Read More >

 

Pictures from around western Colorado and eastern Utah
What is "Z" Time?

Since weather observations and forecasts are provided around the globe, it is important to understand when each piece of data is valid for. To overcome the problem of numerous time zones, it was internationally agreed upon that weather time stamps would be based on the Prime Meridian, or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Other names for GMT include Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) or "Z" Time.
In the Mountain Time Zone:

Z = MST + 7 hours
Z = MDT + 6 hours
or
MST = Z - 7 hours
MDT = Z - 6 hours


examples: 11 am MST = 1800Z (6:00 pm GMT)
or
1800 MDT (6:00 pm) = 0000Z (Midnight the next day GMT)

Map of World Time Zones