The Spread

Which weather model is most accurate in Atlanta?

Outlook Model accuracy

Atlanta, Georgia · daily high temperature in °C · trailing 30 days · refreshed at most every 6 hours

Every day, The Spread archives what each major weather model predicted for Atlanta at 1-, 3-, and 7-day leads, then scores those forecasts against the ATL observations once the day has happened. This page covers the trailing 30 days (2026-08-04 to 2026-09-02), for daily high temperature.

One day out, too close to call; at three days, too close to call; at seven days, NOAA GFS (1.84°C).

The largest standing bias belongs to GEM (Canada), which has run cool by about 2.64°C at 3-day lead over this window.

The Spread's own bias-corrected blend scored a 0.59°C typical miss at one day. Its corrections come from the same window it is scored on (in-sample), so read it as a ceiling, not a promise.

The scoreboard

Typical miss (MAE) in °C with the signed bias in parentheses — positive bias means the model ran warm. Days = scored days behind the 1-day number.

Model 1-day 3-day 7-day Days
ECMWF IFS 1.0° (-0.8°) 1.9° (-0.7°) 2.3° (-1.1°) 30
NOAA GFS 1.2° (+1.2°) 1.5° (+0.9°) 1.8° (+1.2°) 30
NOAA AIGFS (AI) 1.2° (-1.1°) 1.8° (-1.8°) 2.1° (-1.9°) 30
UKMO (UK) 1.3° (-1.3°) 1.5° (-1.0°) 30
DWD ICON 1.4° (-1.2°) 1.5° (-0.8°) 30
GEM (Canada) 1.9° (-1.9°) 2.7° (-2.6°) 3.3° (-3.1°) 30
ECMWF AIFS (AI) 2.4° (-2.4°) 2.5° (-2.5°) 2.7° (-2.6°) 30
NBM (US blend) 1.6° (-1.5°) 1.8° (-1.7°) 2.3° (-2.1°) 30
Blended (bias-corrected) 0.6° (+0.0°) 1.0° (+0.0°) 1.1° (+0.0°) 30

Method, honestly

The Spread's Atlanta point is the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson station (ATL), 14 km from downtown, used for both forecasts and verifications. Forecasts come from each model's actual archived runs via Open-Meteo's Previous Runs API — what the model said at the time, not a reconstruction. Truth is ATL observations — the station's own daily highs, a thermometer rather than a grid, and no correction applies: the thermometer is the truth outright. Rankings cover the models themselves; the two consensus products at the bottom of the table — NBM, which is itself a blend of models, and The Spread's own bias-corrected blend — are shown for comparison, never ranked or named "most accurate" here. The blend's corrections come from the same trailing window it is scored on (in-sample), so treat its score as a ceiling. A rolling 30-day window means these numbers move — that is the point.

Receipts — was the forecast right?

One page per settled date: what every model said as the day approached, what happened, and who was closest.

  • Tue Sep 1 10 days out the models said 29–31; it hit 34. ECMWF led (off 0.1°C); UKMO ran 2°C cold.
  • Mon Aug 31 9 days out the models said 28–33; it hit 34. GFS led (off 0.1°C); GEM ran 3°C cold.
  • Sun Aug 30 8 days out the models said 27–36; it hit 33. GFS led (off 0.4°C); GEM ran 3°C cold.
  • Sat Aug 29 7 days out the models said 26–35; it hit 32. GFS led (off 0.4°C); GEM ran 5°C cold.
  • Fri Aug 28 6 days out the models said 22–33; it hit 34. GFS led (off 0.6°C); AIFS ran 3°C cold.
  • Thu Aug 27 5 days out the models said 24–33; it hit 32. AIGFS led (off 1.2°C); UKMO ran 4°C cold.
  • Wed Aug 26 4 days out the models said 30–34; it hit 33. AIGFS led (off 0.3°C); AIFS ran 2°C cold.
  • Tue Aug 25 3 days out the models said 28–34; it hit 34. ECMWF led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 3°C cold.
  • Wed Aug 19 13 days out the models said 29–37; it hit 35. UKMO led (off 0.3°C); GEM ran 3°C cold.
  • Tue Aug 18 13 days out the models said 30–35; it hit 34. GEM led (off 0.4°C); ECMWF ran 2°C hot.
  • Mon Aug 17 13 days out the models said 27–34; it hit 37. ICON led (off 0.1°C); GEM ran 2°C cold.
  • Sun Aug 16 13 days out the models said 24–33; it hit 36. AIGFS led (off 0.0°C); GEM ran 2°C cold.
  • Sat Aug 15 13 days out the models said 31–36; it hit 34. GFS led (off 0.2°C); UKMO ran 1°C hot.
  • Fri Aug 14 13 days out the models said 30–34; it hit 34. GEM led (off 0.2°C); GFS ran 2°C hot.
  • Thu Aug 13 13 days out the models said 30–39; it hit 33. ECMWF led (off 1.1°C); UKMO ran 2°C hot.
  • Wed Aug 12 13 days out the models said 28–33; it hit 32. ECMWF led (off 0.1°C); UKMO ran 2°C hot.
  • Tue Aug 11 13 days out the models said 26–40; it hit 31. ICON led (off 0.6°C); GFS ran 3°C hot.
  • Mon Aug 10 13 days out the models said 30–33; it hit 32. AIFS led (off 0.3°C); GFS ran 4°C hot.
  • Sun Aug 9 13 days out the models said 31–36; it hit 33. UKMO led (off 0.1°C); GEM ran 2°C cold.
  • Sat Aug 8 12 days out the models said 30–34; it hit 32. GEM led (off 0.2°C); UKMO ran 2°C hot.
  • Fri Aug 7 11 days out the models said 28–35; it hit 29. ICON led (off 0.2°C); GFS ran 4°C hot.
  • Thu Aug 6 10 days out the models said 31–38; it hit 30. AIGFS led (off 0.3°C); AIFS ran 2°C cold.
  • Wed Aug 5 9 days out the models said 30–36; it hit 30. UKMO led (off 0.2°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cold.
  • Tue Aug 4 8 days out the models said 28–35; it hit 30. AIGFS led (off 0.3°C); UKMO ran 3°C cold.
  • Mon Aug 3 7 days out the models said 26–32; it hit 28. AIFS led (off 0.3°C); ICON ran 2°C hot.
  • Sun Aug 2 6 days out the models said 25–33; it hit 31. GFS led (off 0.3°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cold.
  • Sat Aug 1 5 days out the models said 26–35; it hit 30. UKMO led (off 0.3°C); AIFS ran 3°C cold.
  • Fri Jul 31 4 days out the models said 30–34; it hit 32. ECMWF led (off 0.2°C); GEM ran 2°C cold.
  • Thu Jul 30 3 days out the models said 29–35; it hit 32. ECMWF led (off 0.2°C); GEM ran 3°C cold.

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The Spread — the forecast spread — is in closed beta. These verification pages are public while the rest is gated.