diff --git a/modules/util/gfs_reader.py b/modules/util/gfs_reader.py
index af3605cd143ab0458955fc18e1a7c66138dd5390..add517b27b2c07773bbf19ea97ad3d0b23074bd8 100644
--- a/modules/util/gfs_reader.py
+++ b/modules/util/gfs_reader.py
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@ import glob
 import os
 import numpy as np
 import xarray as xr
-from util.util import value_to_index, homedir
+# from util.util import value_to_index, homedir
 
 # gfs_directory = '/apollo/cloud/Ancil_Data/clavrx_ancil_data/dynamic/gfs/'
+homedir = os.path.expanduser('~') + '/'
 gfs_directory = homedir+'data/gfs/'
 gfs_date_format = '%y%m%d'
 
@@ -29,6 +30,13 @@ class MyGenericException(Exception):
         self.message = message
 
 
+# Return index of nda closest to value. nda must be 1d
+def value_to_index(nda, value):
+    diff = np.abs(nda - value)
+    idx = np.argmin(diff)
+    return idx
+
+
 def get_timestamp(filename):
     toks = filename.split('.')
     tstr = toks[1].split('_')[0]