Two New High-Resolution Weather Models on Ventusky: RRFS and ICON IT

We have expanded the selection of weather models available on Ventusky with two new high-resolution models, bringing more detailed forecasts to North America and the central Mediterranean.

For North America, we have added NOAA’s new RRFS (Rapid Refresh Forecast System). RRFS represents a new generation of high-resolution regional weather forecasting in the United States and across North America. It operates at a resolution of approximately 3 km and is updated every hour, making it particularly valuable for short-term forecasting of rapidly developing weather. Each hourly run provides forecasts up to 18 hours ahead, while the main runs issued every six hours extend the forecast to 84 hours. It is also available for Hawaii on Ventusky.

Thanks to its high resolution and frequent updates, RRFS can capture the development and movement of thunderstorms, precipitation, cloud cover and local wind systems in much greater detail. This is especially important during severe weather situations, when atmospheric conditions can change considerably within just a few hours. RRFS is NOAA’s next-generation forecasting system and brings together capabilities previously provided by several separate high-resolution models. The RRFS model replaces the older-generation HRRR and NAM models.

The second addition is ICON IT (also know as ICON-2I), a high-resolution version of the ICON model designed specifically for Italy and the central Mediterranean. The model is operated by ItaliaMeteo Agency. It covers Italy, the Adriatic Sea and surrounding regions with a very detailed grid spacing of 2.2 km. Forecasts are produced twice a day and extend up to 72 hours ahead.

ICON IT is particularly useful in a region where complex terrain, coastlines and warm Mediterranean waters can strongly influence local weather. Its high resolution allows it to represent thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, mountain weather, coastal winds and other small-scale phenomena more precisely than lower-resolution global models.

Both new models can now be selected directly on Ventusky, where their forecasts can also be compared with other models.