diff --git a/docs/Users_Guide/config_options.rst b/docs/Users_Guide/config_options.rst
index 12bdda337f..195edca40a 100644
--- a/docs/Users_Guide/config_options.rst
+++ b/docs/Users_Guide/config_options.rst
@@ -514,8 +514,9 @@ containing a "key" string and "val" string. This defines a mapping of
 message type group names to a comma-separated list of values. This map is
 defined in the config files for PB2NC, Point-Stat, or Ensemble-Stat. Modify
 this map to define sets of message types that should be processed together as
-a group. The "SURFACE" entry must be present to define message types for
-which surface verification logic should be applied.
+a group. The "SURFACE" entry defines message types for which surface verification
+logic should be applied. If not defined, the default values listed below are
+used.
 
 .. code-block:: none
 		
diff --git a/src/basic/vx_util/util_constants.h b/src/basic/vx_util/util_constants.h
index 24ed650a80..05a5996685 100644
--- a/src/basic/vx_util/util_constants.h
+++ b/src/basic/vx_util/util_constants.h
@@ -80,6 +80,11 @@ static const char surface_msg_typ_group_str [] = "SURFACE"; // Surface message t
 static const char landsf_msg_typ_group_str  [] = "LANDSF";  // Surface land message type group
 static const char watersf_msg_typ_group_str [] = "WATERSF"; // Surface water message type group
 
+// Default message type group values
+static const char default_msg_typ_group_surface [] = "ADPSFC,SFCSHP,MSONET";
+static const char default_msg_typ_group_landsf  [] = "ADPSFC,MSONET";
+static const char default_msg_typ_group_watersf [] = "SFCSHP";
+
 // Commonly used regular expressions
 static const char yyyymmdd_hhmmss_reg_exp[] =
    "[0-9]\\{8,8\\}_[0-9]\\{6,6\\}";
diff --git a/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat_conf_info.cc b/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat_conf_info.cc
index 714906c100..9a81994d67 100644
--- a/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat_conf_info.cc
+++ b/src/tools/core/ensemble_stat/ensemble_stat_conf_info.cc
@@ -165,15 +165,12 @@ void EnsembleStatConfInfo::process_config(GrdFileType etype,
    msg_typ_group_map = parse_conf_message_type_group_map(&conf);
 
    // Conf: message_type_group_map(SURFACE)
-   if(msg_typ_group_map.count((string)surface_msg_typ_group_str) == 0) {
-      mlog << Error << "\nEnsembleStatConfInfo::process_config() -> "
-           << "\"" << conf_key_message_type_group_map
-           << "\" must contain an entry for \""
-           << surface_msg_typ_group_str << "\".\n\n";
-      exit(1);
+   ConcatString cs = surface_msg_typ_group_str;
+   if(msg_typ_group_map.count(cs) > 0) {
+      msg_typ_sfc = msg_typ_group_map[cs];
    }
    else {
-     msg_typ_sfc = msg_typ_group_map[(string)surface_msg_typ_group_str];
+      msg_typ_sfc.parse_css(default_msg_typ_group_surface);
    }
 
    // Conf: ens_member_ids
diff --git a/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat_conf_info.cc b/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat_conf_info.cc
index 6579d04574..7b811ce17a 100644
--- a/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat_conf_info.cc
+++ b/src/tools/core/point_stat/point_stat_conf_info.cc
@@ -1018,18 +1018,30 @@ void PointStatVxOpt::set_vx_pd(PointStatConfInfo *conf_info) {
    if(conf_info->msg_typ_group_map.count(cs) > 0) {
       vx_pd.set_msg_typ_sfc(conf_info->msg_typ_group_map[cs]);
    }
+   else {
+      sa.parse_css(default_msg_typ_group_surface);
+      vx_pd.set_msg_typ_sfc(sa);
+   }
 
    // Store the surface land message type group
    cs = landsf_msg_typ_group_str;
    if(conf_info->msg_typ_group_map.count(cs) > 0) {
       vx_pd.set_msg_typ_lnd(conf_info->msg_typ_group_map[cs]);
    }
+   else {
+      sa.parse_css(default_msg_typ_group_landsf);
+      vx_pd.set_msg_typ_lnd(sa);
+   }
 
    // Store the surface water message type group
    cs = watersf_msg_typ_group_str;
    if(conf_info->msg_typ_group_map.count(cs) > 0) {
       vx_pd.set_msg_typ_wtr(conf_info->msg_typ_group_map[cs]);
    }
+   else {
+      sa.parse_css(default_msg_typ_group_watersf);
+      vx_pd.set_msg_typ_wtr(sa);
+   }
 
    // Define the verifying message type name and values
    for(i=0; i<n_msg_typ; i++) {