ForecastWatch has launched the Most Accurate Forecast Awards, a new annual program that publicly names the most accurate weather forecast producer in each market, region, metric and forecast time horizon.

For more than 20 years, ForecastWatch has measured forecaster accuracy using what it says is the world’s largest historical database of weather forecasts and observations. The awards are intended to publicly communicate which forecasters are most accurate in their segment.

Eric Floehr, founder and CEO of ForecastWatch, said, “Measuring forecast accuracy and being able to declare it publicly are two very different things. ForecastWatch has quantified who’s most accurate for over 20 years. These awards are what forecast producers and consumers have always wanted and needed: clear confirmation of current forecasting excellence.”

The inaugural awards span two markets, Consumer Weather and Enterprise Weather Intelligence, across three global regions: North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Winners are further identified by metric, such as 24-hour high temperature, and by forecast horizon, such as one to seven days.

Each forecast producer was assessed using the ForecastWatch Awards Accuracy Score, a 0-to-100 grade designed to place every forecast on a single universal scale, with the calibration versioned and reproducible to allow year-over-year comparison. To qualify, forecast producers had to have provided 12 continuous months of data to ForecastWatch. There is no pay-for-ranking system and no entry fee.

In North America, Microsoft won the Consumer Weather category for the 1-7 day horizon, with Foreca winning for 8-14 days. In Enterprise Weather Intelligence, Atmospheric G2 topped the 24-hour high-temperature category, CFAN the 24-hour low-temperature category, and DTN the 24-hour wind category, all across the 1-14 day horizon.

In Europe, Microsoft and Pelmorex won the Consumer Weather categories for the 1-7 and 8-14 day horizons respectively, while Wettermanufaktur won both Enterprise Weather Intelligence temperature categories and DTN won the wind category.

In Asia-Pacific, Microsoft and Foreca won the Consumer Weather categories, while Wettermanufaktur again won both temperature categories in Enterprise Weather Intelligence, with DTN winning the wind category.

The complete inaugural results are published here, with the awards to be presented annually.

Read Eric Floehr’s, founder and chief executive of ForecastWatch, feature for MTI here