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The American weather model of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction — known as the Global Forecast System (GFS) — calculates weather forecasts for the entire globe. It is run four times daily (00, 06, 12, and 18 UTC) and provides forecasts up to approximately 16 days in advance.

For many parameters, hourly time intervals are available during the first forecast days; thereafter, the time intervals become larger. Users can select any country worldwide and display a wide range of weather parameters such as temperature, precipitation, wind, air pressure, and additional fields via the menu.

The classic “Global US Standard” model has a coarser horizontal resolution than regional HD models in Europe. As a result, mountain ranges, valleys, islands, and coastal areas in particular are represented in less detail.

In addition, GFS 0.125° can also be selected on our website. This version is likewise based on the Global Forecast System (GFS) but operates with a significantly higher horizontal resolution (approx. 0.125° ≈ 13 km) than the former standard GFS.

This results in:

• improved representation of mountain structures
• more realistic depiction of coastlines
• overall more detailed precipitation distribution
• more precise regional temperature and wind fields

Nevertheless, other regional models such as our in-house SuperHD are often better suited for precise local forecasts.

Here as well, all countries worldwide and numerous parameters such as temperature, precipitation, and other meteorological variables can be selected.

In addition to the main run (deterministic forecast), ensemble variants are available for key parameters. These are generated using slightly modified initial conditions at model start.

This produces a range of possible developments, which is particularly useful during active weather situations (e.g., storms or thunderstorms) to assess the probability of certain scenarios. The ensemble data are generally available somewhat later than the respective main run.