diff --git a/src/rwGRIB2.f90 b/src/rwGRIB2.f90
index 09ec94e305507d30e37c43009d306ffd343cbe05..3d09298dbf9882b48dcc83e5feeaec76075c1f8d 100644
--- a/src/rwGRIB2.f90
+++ b/src/rwGRIB2.f90
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
    integer :: l(size(mpar))
    character*(*):: filename                             
 
+   feld = 0.
+   
    call grib_open_file(ifile, TRIM(FILENAME),'r')
  
    ! count the messages in the file