Windborne Systems released the sixth version of its AI weather forecasting model, WeatherMesh 6, on June 1, 2026, claiming it outperforms predictions from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) — widely regarded by meteorologists as the world’s leading weather forecasting organization.
According to Windborne’s chief product officer Kai Marshland, WeatherMesh 6 “is as accurate five days out as a traditional forecast is the day before,” particularly for surface temperature measurements. The model generates a new forecast every hour, compared to the six-hour intervals used by traditional systems, and now operates at a resolution of 3 km across Europe and the continental United States.
Founded in 2019 by a group of Stanford students, Windborne initially focused on building improved weather balloons to sell sensor data. After deep learning-based weather models emerged in 2022, the company shifted to developing its own forecasting model alongside its data collection operation. The company currently operates around 400 balloons in flight at any given time, launched from 15 sites around the world.
The key improvement in WeatherMesh 6, according to Windborne’s head of AI Joan Creus-Costa, comes from feeding balloon and other sensor data directly into the model — a process called data assimilation — rather than relying on preprocessed datasets from ECMWF or NOAA. CEO John Dean said the company has reached a point where removing ECMWF’s initial conditions would still yield strong results.
Windborne sells its balloon data to NOAA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, and also provides forecasts to investors and commodity traders. The company has raised $25 million in venture funding and carried a reported valuation of $85 million in 2024.
The release comes after a notable incident in which a United Airlines aircraft struck one of Windborne’s balloons, causing minor damage but no injuries. The company has since added ADS-B transponders to its balloons to broadcast their locations through the global aviation surveillance system.
Source: TechCrunch