Which weather model is most accurate in New Orleans?
New Orleans, Louisiana · daily high temperature in °C · trailing 30 days, through Fri Oct 16
Every day, The Spread archives what each major weather model predicted for New Orleans at 1-, 3-, and 7-day leads, then scores those forecasts against the NEW observations once the day has happened. This page covers the trailing 30 days (2026-09-17 to 2026-10-16), for daily high temperature.
One day out, DWD ICON has been most accurate (typical miss 0.62°C); at three days, too close to call; at seven days, NOAA AIGFS (AI) (1.37°C).
The largest standing bias belongs to ECMWF AIFS (AI), which has run cool by about 1.82°C at 3-day lead over this window.
New Orleans's full forecast, every model day by day, with the record on this page beside it. Request an invite; it's free during the beta.
The scoreboard
Typical miss (MAE) in °C with the bias in parentheses. Bias is the mean signed error of the predicted daily high — positive means the model ran warm. A model's high is the warmest of its hourly values and the station's is the warmest it got at any moment, so a model's high reads a little cool, and its low a little warm, even on a day it gets every hour right. ECMWF IFS gives a value only every 3 hours (every 6 past day 6), and ECMWF AIFS (AI) and NOAA AIGFS (AI) only every 6, with the hours between filled in, so their highs read cooler still and their lows warmer. In the forecasts scored here GFS also steps to every 3 hours from day 5, ICON and GEM from day 4, and UKMO from day 3, every 6 by day 6. Days = scored days behind the 1-day number.
| Model | 1-day | 3-day | 7-day | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DWD ICON | 0.6° (-0.3°) | 1.0° (+0.0°) | — | 29 |
| NOAA AIGFS (AI) | 0.9° (-0.1°) | 1.1° (-0.1°) | 1.4° (-0.7°) | 29 |
| GEM (Canada) | 0.9° (+0.1°) | 1.4° (-0.1°) | 1.9° (-1.2°) | 29 |
| NOAA GFS | 0.9° (-0.1°) | 0.9° (-0.2°) | 1.9° (-0.9°) | 29 |
| UKMO (UK) | 1.0° (-0.4°) | 1.1° (-0.3°) | — | 29 |
| ECMWF IFS | 1.5° (-1.4°) | 1.5° (-1.4°) | 1.9° (-1.8°) | 29 |
| ECMWF AIFS (AI) | 1.7° (-1.7°) | 1.9° (-1.8°) | 2.0° (-1.7°) | 29 |
Method, honestly
The Spread's New Orleans point is the Lakefront Airport station (NEW), 11 km from downtown, used for both forecasts and verifications. Each forecast is the last one The Spread archived on the day it was made, the forecast the model was showing at the time, not a reconstruction. A day the station did not report is left out. Truth is the thermometer at Lakefront Airport (NEW) — 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; consensus products such as the NBM, itself a blend of models, are not scored here. 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.
- Fri Oct 16 14 days out the models said 20–31; it hit 29. ECMWF led (off 0.0°C); GFS ran 1°C warm.
- Thu Oct 15 14 days out the models said 21–30; it hit 31. AIGFS led (off 0.2°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Wed Oct 14 14 days out the models said 19–31; it hit 30. GFS led (off 0.4°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Tue Oct 13 14 days out the models said 21–26; it hit 32. AIGFS led (off 0.5°C); UKMO ran 2°C cool.
- Mon Oct 12 14 days out the models said 22–28; it hit 32. GEM led (off 0.2°C); AIFS ran 3°C cool.
- Sun Oct 11 14 days out the models said 18–29; it hit 28. AIGFS led (off 0.2°C); GEM ran 2°C warm.
- Sat Oct 10 14 days out the models said 22–28; it hit 27. GEM led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Fri Oct 9 14 days out the models said 19–28; it hit 27. ICON led (off 0.0°C); GFS ran 3°C cool.
- Thu Oct 8 14 days out the models said 20–25; it hit 29. ECMWF led (off 0.2°C).
- Wed Oct 7 14 days out the models said 25–29; it hit 30. ICON led (off 0.4°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Tue Oct 6 13 days out the models said 24–27; it hit 28. AIFS led (off 0.1°C); AIGFS ran 2°C warm.
- Mon Oct 5 14 days out the models said 23–28; it hit 28. ICON led (off 0.0°C); GEM ran 3°C cool.
- Sun Oct 4 14 days out the models said 26–32; it hit 27. UKMO led (off 0.6°C); GEM ran 3°C cool.
- Sat Oct 3 14 days out the models said 25–28; it hit 29. GFS led (off 0.2°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Fri Oct 2 14 days out the models said 24–29; it hit 32. AIGFS led (off 0.3°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Thu Oct 1 14 days out the models said 26–31; it hit 33. AIGFS led (off 0.4°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Wed Sep 30 14 days out the models said 26–31; it hit 32. GFS led (off 0.3°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Tue Sep 29 14 days out the models said 28–31; it hit 33. GEM led (off 0.3°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Mon Sep 28 14 days out the models said 28–33; it hit 32. GEM led (off 0.2°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Sun Sep 27 14 days out the models said 27–31; it hit 31. ECMWF led (off 0.1°C); GEM ran 1°C warm.
- Sat Sep 26 14 days out the models said 28–31; it hit 30. ICON led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Fri Sep 25 14 days out the models said 26–32; it hit 29. ICON led (off 0.3°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Thu Sep 24 14 days out the models said 26–30; it hit 32. UKMO led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 3°C cool.
- Wed Sep 23 14 days out the models said 25–32; it hit 33. ICON led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Tue Sep 22 14 days out the models said 25–34; it hit 32. GEM led (off 0.3°C); GFS ran 2°C warm.
- Mon Sep 21 14 days out the models said 27–31; it hit 32. UKMO led (off 1.1°C); GEM ran 2°C warm.
- Sun Sep 20 14 days out the models said 24–32; it hit 33. UKMO led (off 0.6°C); AIGFS ran 2°C warm.
- Sat Sep 19 14 days out the models said 27–33; it hit 33. ICON led (off 0.0°C); AIFS ran 3°C cool.
- Fri Sep 18 14 days out the models said 27–34; it hit 33. GEM led (off 0.4°C); AIFS ran 3°C cool.
- Thu Sep 17 14 days out the models said 31–34; it hit 32. ICON led (off 0.0°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Wed Sep 16 14 days out the models said 29–35; it hit 32. AIGFS led (off 0.1°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Tue Sep 15 14 days out the models said 29–34; it hit 33. AIGFS led (off 0.3°C); GFS ran 2°C warm.
- Mon Sep 14 14 days out the models said 28–35; it hit 33. ICON led (off 0.3°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Sun Sep 13 14 days out the models said 30–33; it hit 33. GEM led (off 0.7°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Sat Sep 12 14 days out the models said 29–33; it hit 31. ICON led (off 0.6°C); AIGFS ran 3°C warm.
- Fri Sep 11 14 days out the models said 27–34; it hit 31. ICON led (off 0.3°C); AIGFS ran 2°C warm.
- Thu Sep 10 14 days out the models said 31–36; it hit 29. AIFS led (off 0.0°C); GEM ran 2°C warm.
- Wed Sep 9 14 days out the models said 31–35; it hit 32. GEM led (off 0.1°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Tue Sep 8 14 days out the models said 30–36; it hit 33. AIGFS led (off 0.1°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Mon Sep 7 14 days out the models said 29–34; it hit 33. ICON led (off 0.4°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Sun Sep 6 14 days out the models said 27–36; it hit 33. ICON led (off 0.0°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Sat Sep 5 14 days out the models said 30–34; it hit 32. GFS led (off 0.3°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Fri Sep 4 14 days out the models said 30–36; it hit 31. AIGFS led (off 0.0°C); GFS ran 3°C warm.
- Thu Sep 3 13 days out the models said 29–36; it hit 33. ICON led (off 0.0°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Wed Sep 2 12 days out the models said 29–35; it hit 34. AIGFS led (off 0.0°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Tue Sep 1 11 days out the models said 29–35; it hit 32. UKMO led (off 0.3°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Mon Aug 31 10 days out the models said 30–34; it hit 31. AIGFS led (off 0.1°C); UKMO ran 2°C cool.
- Sun Aug 30 9 days out the models said 30–35; it hit 31. GFS led (off 0.2°C); UKMO ran 3°C cool.
- Sat Aug 29 8 days out the models said 30–34; it hit 34. GFS led (off 0.1°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Fri Aug 28 7 days out the models said 27–34; it hit 33. GFS led (off 0.0°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Thu Aug 27 6 days out the models said 27–34; it hit 30. UKMO led (off 0.3°C); GEM ran 2°C warm.
- Wed Aug 26 5 days out the models said 32–37; it hit 33. ECMWF led (off 0.4°C); GFS ran 3°C warm.
- Tue Aug 25 4 days out the models said 31–37; it hit 32. AIFS led (off 0.0°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Wed Aug 19 14 days out the models said 32–39; it hit 34. ICON led (off 0.2°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Tue Aug 18 14 days out the models said 31–38; it hit 35. AIGFS led (off 0.1°C); GEM ran 2°C warm.
- Mon Aug 17 14 days out the models said 31–36; it hit 35. ICON led (off 0.1°C); ECMWF ran 3°C cool.
- Sun Aug 16 14 days out the models said 30–37; it hit 35. ICON led (off 0.2°C); GFS ran 3°C warm.
- Sat Aug 15 14 days out the models said 30–36; it hit 36. ICON led (off 0.3°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Fri Aug 14 14 days out the models said 32–37; it hit 35. ICON led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Thu Aug 13 14 days out the models said 32–38; it hit 34. GEM led (off 0.4°C); GFS ran 3°C warm.
- Wed Aug 12 14 days out the models said 29–36; it hit 33. UKMO led (off 0.2°C); GFS ran 4°C warm.
- Tue Aug 11 14 days out the models said 30–37; it hit 33. ECMWF led (off 0.4°C); AIGFS ran 2°C warm.
- Mon Aug 10 14 days out the models said 28–36; it hit 32. GEM led (off 0.7°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Sun Aug 9 14 days out the models said 28–36; it hit 33. GFS led (off 0.1°C); ECMWF ran 2°C cool.
- Sat Aug 8 13 days out the models said 28–33; it hit 33. ICON led (off 0.1°C); GFS ran 2°C warm.
- Fri Aug 7 12 days out the models said 28–33; it hit 32. UKMO led (off 0.3°C); GFS ran 2°C warm.
- Thu Aug 6 11 days out the models said 29–37; it hit 32. ICON led (off 0.7°C); GEM ran 2°C warm.
- Wed Aug 5 10 days out the models said 29–36; it hit 34. GFS led (off 0.5°C); UKMO ran 2°C cool.
- Tue Aug 4 9 days out the models said 29–37; it hit 34. UKMO led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
- Mon Aug 3 8 days out the models said 28–35; it hit 32. ECMWF led (off 0.1°C); GFS ran 2°C warm.
- Sun Aug 2 7 days out the models said 27–30; it hit 30. AIFS led (off 0.1°C); GFS ran 3°C warm.
- Sat Aug 1 6 days out the models said 29–37; it hit 35. AIGFS led (off 0.2°C); GEM ran 2°C warm.
- Fri Jul 31 5 days out the models said 30–36; it hit 35. AIGFS led (off 0.1°C); ICON ran 3°C cool.
- Thu Jul 30 4 days out the models said 29–37; it hit 35. ICON led (off 0.1°C); AIFS ran 2°C cool.
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