ECMWF IFS
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts · European model, Euro, IFS, ECMWF HRES
The "European model". For two decades the reference global model in independent verification scores, especially beyond day 3.
Model guide
Every weather model,
explained.
A weather model is a computer simulation of the atmosphere run by a national weather service. Each one starts from slightly different observations and physics, so they disagree, and that disagreement tells you how certain a forecast really is. Here are the 12 models MeteoStack stacks.
| Model | Run by | Resolution | Range | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECMWF IFS | European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts | 9 km (IFS HRES) | 15 days | Physics (NWP) |
| ECMWF AIFS | European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts | 0.25° (~28 km), 6-hourly steps | 15 days | Machine learning |
| NOAA GFS | NOAA / National Centers for Environmental Prediction | ~13 km (blended with HRRR 3 km over the US) | 16 days | Physics (NWP) |
| DWD ICON | Deutscher Wetterdienst (German Weather Service) | 13 km global, 7 km Europe (ICON-EU), 2 km Central Europe (ICON-D2) | 7 days | Physics (NWP) |
| Canadian GEM | Environment and Climate Change Canada | ~15 km global; 2.5 km HRDPS over Canada | 10 days | Physics (NWP) |
| JMA GSM | Japan Meteorological Agency | ~55 km open data global; 5 km MSM over Japan | 11 days | Physics (NWP) |
| Météo-France ARPEGE / AROME | Météo-France | ~25 km world, 10 km Europe, 1.3 km AROME over France | 4 days | Physics (NWP) |
| UK Met Office | Met Office (United Kingdom) | ~10 km global; 2 km UKV over the UK | 7 days | Physics (NWP) |
| CMA GRAPES | China Meteorological Administration | ~15 km | 5 days | Physics (NWP) |
| BOM ACCESS-G | Australian Bureau of Meteorology | ~12 km | 10 days | Physics (NWP) |
| KMA KIM | Korea Meteorological Administration | ~12 km global; 1.5 km over Korea | 12 days | Physics (NWP) |
| MET Norway Nordic | Norwegian Meteorological Institute | 1 km over Scandinavia, global fallback elsewhere | 3 days | Physics (NWP) |
ECMWF AIFS
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts · ECMWF AI model, Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System
ECMWF's machine-learning model, operational since 2025. Trained on decades of reanalysis, it runs in minutes instead of hours.
NOAA GFS
NOAA / National Centers for Environmental Prediction · American model, Global Forecast System
The "American model". Free, global, four runs a day out to 16 days, the most widely redistributed forecast on Earth.
DWD ICON
Deutscher Wetterdienst (German Weather Service) · German model, ICON-EU, ICON-D2
The German model. Its seamless blend nests a 2 km model inside a 7 km model inside the global one, which makes it superb over Europe.
Canadian GEM
Environment and Climate Change Canada · Canadian model, CMC, GDPS, HRDPS
The Canadian model. A solid third opinion in North America, with a 2.5 km high-resolution nest.
JMA GSM
Japan Meteorological Agency · Japanese model, GSM, MSM
The Japanese model. Coarse globally in open data but a valuable independent member, especially for the West Pacific.
Météo-France ARPEGE / AROME
Météo-France · French model, ARPEGE, AROME
The French models. AROME at 1.3 km is one of the sharpest operational models for storms and Mediterranean downpours.
UK Met Office
Met Office (United Kingdom) · UK model, Met Office Unified Model, UKV
The UK Met Office Unified Model, consistently among the top-scoring global models, with a 2 km UK nest.
CMA GRAPES
China Meteorological Administration · Chinese model, GRAPES-GFS
China's global model. An independent opinion that widens the spread of the stack.
BOM ACCESS-G
Australian Bureau of Meteorology · Australian model, ACCESS
The Australian model, built on the Met Office Unified Model. The Southern Hemisphere specialist.
KMA KIM
Korea Meteorological Administration · Korean model, KIM, GDPS, LDPS
The Korean Integrated Model, with a 1.5 km nest over the Korean peninsula.
MET Norway Nordic
Norwegian Meteorological Institute · yr.no model, MET Nordic, MEPS
The model behind yr.no. A 1 km nowcast-grade forecast for the Nordics.
Which weather model is the most accurate?
In global verification published by the World Meteorological Organization's lead centres, ECMWF has held the top spot for medium-range forecasts for most of the past twenty years, with the UK Met Office usually second and GFS, GEM and JMA behind. Machine-learning models such as ECMWF AIFS now match or beat physics models on many large-scale scores.
But "most accurate on average" is not "right for your town tomorrow". High-resolution regional models: ICON-D2, AROME, HRRR, UKV: often win the first 48 hours locally. That is why MeteoStack shows them all and computes a consensus: the median of many independent models beats any single model over time.