diff --git a/forcingprocessor/src/forcingprocessor/forcingprocessor.py b/forcingprocessor/src/forcingprocessor/forcingprocessor.py
index 6247294c..f6a4d9fb 100644
--- a/forcingprocessor/src/forcingprocessor/forcingprocessor.py
+++ b/forcingprocessor/src/forcingprocessor/forcingprocessor.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import pandas as pd
 import argparse, os, json, sys
-import fsspec
+import requests
 import s3fs
 import gcsfs
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def forcing_grid2catchment(crosswalk_dict: dict, nwm_files: list, var_list: list
     wgt_file: a path to the weights json,
     filelist: list of filenames (urls for remote, local paths otherwise),
     var_list: list (list of variable names to read),
-    jt: the index to place the file. This is used to ensure elements increase in time, regardless of thread number,
+    fs: an optional file system for cloud storage reads
 
     Outputs:
     df_by_t : (returned for local files) a list (in time) of forcing data. Note that this list may not be consistent in time
@@ -151,24 +151,25 @@ def forcing_grid2catchment(crosswalk_dict: dict, nwm_files: list, var_list: list
     data_list = []
     t_list = []
     nfiles = len(nwm_files)
-    if nwm_files[0].find('googleapis')  >= 0: 
-        fs = gcsfs.GCSFileSystem() 
-        fs_type = 'google' 
-    elif nwm_files[0].find('s3.amazon') >= 0: 
-        fs_type = 's3'
+    if fs_type == 'google' : fs = gcsfs.GCSFileSystem() 
     id = os.getpid()
     if ii_verbose: print(f'{id} extracting data from {nfiles} files',end=None,flush=True)
     for j, nwm_file in enumerate(nwm_files):
         t0 = time.perf_counter()        
         eng    = "h5netcdf"
-        if fs is not None:
-            bucket_key = convert_url2key(nwm_file,fs_type)
+        if fs:
+            if nwm_file.find('https://') >= 0: bucket_key = convert_url2key(nwm_file,fs_type)
+            else: bucket_key = nwm_file
             file_obj   = fs.open(bucket_key, mode='rb')
+        elif 'https://' in nwm_file:
+            response = requests.get(nwm_file)
+            file_obj = BytesIO(response.content)
         else:
             file_obj = nwm_file
 
         topen += time.perf_counter() - t0
         t0 = time.perf_counter()                
+
         with xr.open_dataset(file_obj, engine=eng) as nwm_data:
             txrds += time.perf_counter() - t0
             t0 = time.perf_counter()
@@ -444,7 +445,7 @@ def prep_ngen_data(conf):
         "VGRD_10maboveground",
         "DLWRF_surface",
         "APCP_surface",
-        "precip_rate",  # BROKEN (Identical to APCP!)
+        "precip_rate",  # HACK RAINRATE * 3600
         "TMP_2maboveground",        
         "SPFH_2maboveground",
         "PRES_surface",
@@ -557,17 +558,19 @@ def prep_ngen_data(conf):
 
     nfiles = len(nwm_forcing_files)
 
-    if nwm_forcing_files[0].find('s3.amazonaws') >= 0:
+    global fs_type
+    if 's3://' in nwm_forcing_files[0] or 's3.amazonaws' in nwm_forcing_files[0]:
         fs = s3fs.S3FileSystem(
             anon=True,
             client_kwargs={'region_name': 'us-east-1'}
             )
         fs_type = 's3'
-    elif nwm_forcing_files[0].find('storage.googleapis') >= 0:
+    elif 'google' in nwm_forcing_files[0] or 'gs://' in nwm_forcing_files[0] or 'gcs://' in nwm_forcing_files[0]:
         fs = "google"
         fs_type = 'google'
     else:
         fs = None
+        fs_type = None
 
     if ii_verbose:
         print(f"NWM file names:")
@@ -593,6 +596,7 @@ def prep_ngen_data(conf):
         jnwm_files = nwm_forcing_files[start:end]
         t0 = time.perf_counter()
         if ii_verbose: print(f'Entering data extraction...\n')
+        # [data_array, t_ax] = forcing_grid2catchment(crosswalk_dict, jnwm_files, var_list, fs)
         data_array, t_ax = multiprocess_data_extract(jnwm_files,proc_threads,crosswalk_dict,var_list,fs)
         t_extract = time.perf_counter() - t0
         complexity = (nfiles_tot * ncatchments) / 10000
@@ -624,10 +628,14 @@ def prep_ngen_data(conf):
         for j, jfile in enumerate(nwm_forcing_files):
             if j > 10: break
             if fs:
-                bucket_key  = convert_url2key(jfile, fs_type) 
+                if jfile.find('https://') >= 0: bucket_key  = convert_url2key(jfile, fs_type) 
+                else: bucket_key = jfile
                 if fs_type == 'google': fs = gcsfs.GCSFileSystem() 
+                
                 response = fs.open(bucket_key, mode='rb')
                 nwm_file_sizes.append(response.details['size'])
+            elif jfile.find('https://') >= 0:
+                nwm_file_sizes = len(requests.get(jfile).content)
             else:
                 nwm_file_sizes = os.path.getsize(jfile)