The operational ocean wave predictions under Hurricane conditions of NOAA/NWS/NCEP use the wave model WAVEWATCH III using operational NCEP products as input. The model is run four times a day: 00Z, 06Z, 12Z, and 18Z. Each run starts with 6- and 3-hour hindcasts and produces forecasts of every 3 hours from the initial time out to 126 hours.

The wave model is run as a mosaic of ten grids (one global, four regional, and three costal) with two - way interaction between the grids. The global model is run using the GFS winds. In the regional grids, whenever available, the wind fields are created using a blend of the GFS model and Hurricane model (currently the operational GFDL hurricane model is used to drive the winds). In the absence of Hurricanes, only the GFS winds are used to drive the model. Under those conditions the hurricane wave model behaves just like the operational multi-grid global wave forecast model.