Weather confidence for winter operations

Wx Horizon delivers targeted pavement forecasts focusing on the impact of weather on the surface. Surface weather forecasts are calculated with specific consideration to your road network and its unique characteristics. Of course, more general weather forecast information is also included with Wx Horizon.

Free forecasts focus on atmospheric conditions, with no consideration to your road network characteristics. Although it may appear that forecasts are locally tailored, they often show the same forecast over a large area.

As long as you are in contract, if a Cast sensor is faulty, we will send you a replacement.

A road weather forecast point is a point on your road network that you define where you want to receive a forecast from.

There are no sensors at that location. But thanks to our sophisticated road weather forecast models, we can create an accurate forecast of future conditions on the road surface.

We determine the characteristics of the pavement surface at each location through contextual road data (e.g longitude, latitude, road construction, height above sea level, shading). These fixed factors together with atmospheric data from above the road surface are inputs to our Road Weather Model to create pavement condition forecasts at those locations.

Observations improve forecast accuracy. So installing Cast sensors will imporve the quality of your forecast. In fact our research has shown that Cast sensors can reduce the forecast errors by up to 70% over the first few hours of a forecast.

When locating Cast sensors, think if there any significant gaps in your network with no observation data? Are the current observation points representative of your network as a whole, or do they give the worst-case scenario? How much does the terrain vary on your network - observations are especially beneficial in complex terrain.

We begin by creating an atmospheric forecast. To do this, we aggregate various global and regional data sources from Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models with real-time observations.

This atmospheric forecast data is then fed into the Xweather Road Weather Model which ingests the latest observed data across the network. We ensure that the latest available observed data is always driving the forecast, providing you with the most up-to-date forecast accuracy.

We forecast the pavement condition for 72 hours ahead and general weather forecasts for the next 10 days.

Meteorology is a continually developing field. Technology development, improved measurement capability, higher data volumes and availability, improved algorithms, and a better understanding of the atmosphere and road surface behavior contribute to continuously improving forecast accuracy.

A forecast for the next 24 hours typically has a low level of uncertainty and can generally be used to make treatment action plans over a specific area. From 2 to 5 days out, the forecasts have a greater uncertainty level and are ideal for resource planning and preparedness.

Beyond six days, general weather trends over a large region will be seen. Remember, these are general guidelines, and certain meteorological conditions will introduce significant uncertainty even over a short time.

At least every 30 minutes, even more frequently where new observation measurements are available. Latest observed data, radar and satellite information are integrated into the forecasts. This ensures that any changes to previously forecast conditions are identified and immediately included in the new updated forecast.

We have automated the process of creating forecasts. To enable the best possible accuracy and highest resolution forecasts, increasing amounts of quality-checked data needs to be fed into the forecast process. The use of high-performance cloud computing alongside the best forecast models is becoming ever more essential.

Our models and computing power allow us to quickly utilize the best available atmospheric forecasts and latest observed data. We immediately ingest the latest observation data while using machine-learning to continually improve the road weather model output over time. This enables Wx Horizon to deliver frequently updated highly-accurate forecasts.