MeteoSwiss ICON CH
Open data weather forecasts from MeteoSwiss
Data Sources
This API uses MeteoSwiss high-resolution ICON Central Europe forecasts. Information about MeteoSwiss weather models is available here.
| Weather Model | Region | Spatial Resolution | Temporal Resolution | Forecast Length | Update frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICON CH1 | Central Europe | 0.01° (~1 km) | Hourly | 33 hours | Every 3 hours |
| ICON CH2 | Central Europe | 0.02° (~2 km) | Hourly | 120 hours | Every 6 hours |
API Documentation
For a detailed list of all available weather variables please refer to the general Weather Forecast API. Only notable remarks are listed below
- Grid and Projection: MeteoSwiss data is originally provided on an unstructured icosahedral grid. To enable fast access and map rendering, Open-Meteo reprojects the data onto a rotated lat/lon grid with similar resolution. The domain area is cropped by 20 km along the borders to eliminate edge artifacts.
- Precipitation: With the high spatial resolution of 1–2 km, the model captures intense, convective showers. However, due to the highly localized nature of these events, actual precipitation at a specific location may be over- or underestimated. Precipitation probability is derived from all ensemble members to indicate the likelihood of precipitation occurring.
- Direct Solar Radiation: The ICON models from MeteoSwiss include direct solar radiation as a native output. In contrast, many other weather models only supply global radiation, requiring users to estimate direct radiation via separation models.
- Wind, Temperature, and Cloud Forecasts at Heights of 100m and Above: Forecasts at elevated height levels are not yet integrated. If this data is of interest to you, please reach out to discuss possible integration.
- Sunshine Duration is natively computed by the ICON model. For other weather models, Open-Meteo derives sunshine duration using direct normal irradiance (DNI).
- Snowfall and Freezing Level Height may show invalid values if the computed level lies below ground. To address this, Open-Meteo adjusts these levels to extend below ground level when necessary—similar to the handling in models like GFS.
- CAPE and Convective Inhibition are calculated using mean-layer values, consistent with other ICON domains. Convective inhibition may be -1 indicating that the model could not calculate convective inhibition.