The Spread

Which weather model is most accurate in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles, California · daily high temperature · trailing 30 days · refreshed at most every 6 hours

Every day, The Spread archives what each major weather model predicted for Los Angeles at 1-, 3-, and 7-day leads, then scores those forecasts against ERA5 reanalysis once the day has happened. This page covers the trailing 30 days (2026-07-06 to 2026-08-05), for daily high temperature.

One day out, ECMWF IFS has been most accurate (typical miss 1.95°F); at three days, ECMWF IFS (2.05°F); at seven days, GEM (Canada) (2.22°F).

The largest standing bias belongs to NOAA AIGFS (AI), which has run cool by about 9.31°F at 1-day lead over this window.

The Spread's own bias-corrected blend scored a 1.08°F 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) 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 1.9° (-1.4°) 2.0° (-0.4°) 4.1° (-3.2°) 30
NOAA GFS 2.9° (-2.6°) 2.4° (-0.9°) 2.7° (-0.3°) 30
GEM (Canada) 3.2° (-3.0°) 2.1° (-0.4°) 2.2° (+0.7°) 30
UKMO (UK) 3.5° (-3.4°) 3.5° (-3.5°) 30
ECMWF AIFS (AI) 6.6° (-6.6°) 5.7° (-5.7°) 5.4° (-5.3°) 30
DWD ICON 7.4° (-7.4°) 6.4° (-6.4°) 30
NOAA AIGFS (AI) 9.3° (-9.3°) 8.8° (-8.8°) 8.1° (-8.1°) 30
NBM (US blend) 6.7° (-6.7°) 6.7° (-6.7°) 7.7° (-7.7°) 30
Blended (bias-corrected) 1.1° (+0.0°) 1.3° (-0.0°) 1.7° (-0.0°) 30

Method, honestly

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 ERA5 reanalysis daily highs. 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.

  • Mon Aug 3 7 days out the models said 83–95; it hit 92. UKMO led (off 1.8°); AIGFS ran 13° cold.
  • Sun Aug 2 6 days out the models said 86–95; it hit 94. ECMWF led (off 0.1°); AIGFS ran 14° cold.
  • Sat Aug 1 5 days out the models said 87–97; it hit 96. GFS led (off 0.3°); AIGFS ran 16° cold.
  • Fri Jul 31 4 days out the models said 85–94; it hit 95. ECMWF led (off 1.0°); AIGFS ran 16° cold.
  • Thu Jul 30 3 days out the models said 83–92; it hit 92. ECMWF led (off 1.8°); AIGFS ran 15° cold.

Other cities

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