<![CDATA[Best model for cloud cover? UK - GFS vs ECMWF vs ICON]]>So looking at the different models, which provides the most accurate prediction for cloud cover?
GFS , ECMWF, ICON

I'm a photographer and trying to predict cloud cover for sunset and sunrise photography in the UK.

So Im interested in the type of ground cover at a certain location..

]]>https://community.windy.com/topic/15032/best-model-for-cloud-cover-uk-gfs-vs-ecmwf-vs-iconRSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 02:46:56 GMTSun, 10 Jan 2021 13:25:15 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Best model for cloud cover? UK - GFS vs ECMWF vs ICON on Sun, 10 Jan 2021 16:54:58 GMT]]>@yves70

Thankyou for the response. ECMWF was showing clear today.. but we were so cloudy.. will give it a week, and maybe create some sort of survey of the 3 at 3 times a day and compare to local observations..

will keep this thread updated

]]>https://community.windy.com/post/67996https://community.windy.com/post/67996Sun, 10 Jan 2021 16:54:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Best model for cloud cover? UK - GFS vs ECMWF vs ICON on Sun, 10 Jan 2021 16:45:29 GMT]]>@Mrfunk
This is difficult to answer because there is no real automatic answer. Indeed, the best approach is to check the cloud cover forecast from GFS, ICON and ECMWF and then to compare with the real observations to do your own estimation of what model is the most suitable one for cloud cover for your specific area.

Having said that, today, IFS from ECMWF is considered as one of the best model in Europe. My ranking for the 3 models would be :

  1. IFS (ECMWF)
  2. ICON
  3. GFS

But as I said above, this ranking is general and not always valid for all parameters and all locations. You should do your own analysis

]]>https://community.windy.com/post/67993https://community.windy.com/post/67993Sun, 10 Jan 2021 16:45:29 GMT