The Global Forecast System (GFS) is one of the best medium range weather forecasting
models currently available. The GFS updates every 6 hours, producing weather forecast
data for up to 16 days ahead. This page when opened defaults to displaying data
from the latest GFS run available to us. When the run is not complete the hours
ahead buttons display in red. NOTE: The visibility charts are available for 3 hours
to 168 hours ahead and are currently generated from the 0z run.
The European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts runs the ECM medium range
weather forecasting model which is considered by many people to be the best currently
available. The ECM model updates every 12 hours, and we are able to make data available
from it for up to 10 days ahead.
The Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) updates every 6 hours and is based on
the GFS forecasting model. The GEFS comprises of 20 runs, each initiated with slightly
different starting conditions to account for uncertainty. In very basic terms, the
more GEFS runs which show a similar solution to the GFS run, the higher the confidence
level in the GFS run being correct.
The Wave Watch 3 (WW3) model updates every 6 hours and provides wave forecast information
for up to 180 hours ahead, stepped at 3 hour intervals.
The Fax charts are produced by the UK Met Office and have human input rather than
being generated automatically by a computer model.