Meteotest adopts COSMO 1 km forecasting model

The COSMO-1e forecasting model developed at MeteoSwiss has been operational at Meteotest for 3 months. COSMO-1e supersedes the WRF model, which was introduced at Meteotest more than 10 years ago. COSMO-1e is based on a horizontal grid resolution of 1.1 km (WRF: 2 km) and is being updated 8 times a day (WRF: 2 times). In addition, we nowhave ensemble forecasts at our disposal, thanks to which probabilistic forecasts are possible (e.g. as temperature ranges). With COSMO, Meteotest leverages the expertise of MeteoSwiss and other national weather services as well as the computing power of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre in Lugano.

COSMO-1e forecasts are used as basic data to compile data web services (API), maps, or custom-made web applications.

The forecasts from COSMO-1e flow as basic data into our data web services (API), web maps or customised web applications.

Since the topography of Switzerland is very small-scale and complex, the higher spatial resolution of COSMO-1e adds a lot of accuracy to the forecasts. As an example, thunderstorms and wind are much more realistic compared to models with lower spatial resolution. The following map displays wind gusts forecasted by COSMO-1e during the low pressure system "Luis" on 13 March 2021: