Environment Canada to use AI in new weather forecasting model

The hybrid model is better at predicting extreme weather, such as strong winds or heat waves, because the traditional model “keeps the small-scale details that AI models tend to miss,” the release said.

With the new model, Environment Canada said its six-day forecast will be as accurate as its five-day forecast. It said that’s “particularly significant because previous improvements to forecasting were only possible after several years of research and development.”

It said the hybrid system will also be faster at predicting major systems such as winter storms, heat waves and atmospheric rivers.

Environment Canada said that over the past year, its “scientists and meteorologists have been carrying out extensive testing on the hybrid model, running it in parallel with our traditional model to evaluate its performance for predicting weather conditions in Canada.”

The department added it will continue to rely on its meteorologists, whose is judgment is “critical” to interpreting results and communicating them to the public.

“The fact that that much climate data can be analyzed so quickly and incorporated into a product that we can use is exciting,” said Halifax-based Cindy Day, who has been a meteorologist for more than 40 years.

Day added that being able to identify systems earlier will benefit public safety by giving people more warning of big storms.

But she questioned how helpful historical data can be, given the effects of climate change.

“The rate at which our temperatures are changing and our climate is changing is significant. And so I’m not sure that the analysis of so much data going back so much time so very quickly is going to make a big difference into producing a forecast for the next five, six, seven days,” Day said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Environment Canada to use AI in new weather forecasting model

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