Editing Weather Prediction Center (section)

===Quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF)===
[[Image:Rita5dayqpf.png|thumb|250 px|Five-day QPF for [[Hurricane Rita]] (2005)]]
The [[quantitative precipitation forecast|QPF]] desks prepare and issue forecasts of accumulating (quantitative) precipitation, heavy rain, heavy snow, and highlights areas with the potential for flash flooding, with forecasts valid over the following five days. These products are sent to the [[National Weather Service]] forecast offices and are available on the Internet for public use.  Heavy snow forecast products, in association with the short-range public forecast products (described below), serve as a coordinating mechanism for the national winter storm watch and warning program.<ref name="AboutWPC">Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. [http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/html/about2.shtml About the WPC.] Retrieved on 2008-09-03.</ref>

One desk of the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) is co-located with the WPC QPF desks, which together form the National Precipitation Prediction Unit (NPPU). NESDIS meteorologists prepare estimates of rainfall and current trends based on satellite data, and this information is used by the Day 1 QPF forecaster to help create individual 6-hourly forecasts that cover the next 12 hours. With access to WSR-88D/[[Weather radar|Doppler weather radar]] data, satellite estimates, and NCEP model forecast data as well as current weather observations and WPC analyses, the forecaster has the latest data for use in preparation of short-range precipitation forecasts. Meteorological reasoning discussions are regularly written and issued with the forecast packages to explain and support the forecast.<ref name="AboutWPC"/>