Press release - New models boost Weather Routing accuracy

PredictWind has a mission to provide the most accurate weather data on Earth. We are excited to announce three additions to our list of high-resolution Weather Routing models. As the leading source of trusted weather data and tools, PredictWind now delivers the UKMO 2km and Arome 1.25km weather models in Europe, and the NAM 5km model covers North America as part of our Weather Routing and Departure Planning tools.

High-resolution modeling provides more accurate and detailed forecasts in shorter timeframes. This means that using them in weather routing and departure planning can result in more accurate routes, especially in coastal situations. For racing sailors, this can mean winning race data. However, high-resolution models have limited forecast length and coverage area, which can be problematic for longer routes. To address this, we pair the high-resolution models with global models to provide full routes over any timeframe and geographic area.

The pairing of different resolution models is nothing new for PredictWind. We have been doing this with the high-res PWG and PWE 1km > 8km > 50km models for a decade. Now, the UKMO global 15km model will interface with the UKMO 2km model, the Arome 1.25km model will pair with the 9km ECMWF in Europe, and the NAM 5km model will pair with the 25km GFS in North America. This complex operation is seamlessly performed within the PredictWind weather routing engine adding no complexity for the user.

The process that PredictWind uses to calculate the Weather Routing and Departure Planning allows large high-resolution files to be used in every routing calculation. The routes are calculated in the PredictWind cloud, utilizing the highest available resolution and the most recently updated forecasts and ocean data. Since the heavy processing is done in the cloud, the transfer to the vessel requires a very small file size. This makes unparalleled data available on any connection type.

The new high-resolution models are available in the weather routing now. Maps are only available in the PredictWind App and Forecast website, GRIBs will be coming to the Offshore App shortly.

UKMO - NAM - AROME Weather Routing