WeatherNext 3 Release Date: September 3, 2026 and What Shipped
Google DeepMind and Google Research announced WeatherNext 3 on September 3, 2026, alongside the model's research paper and a rollout across Google products starting the same day. This page lays out the release timeline in order and explains what each step means if you simply want to use the hourly forecasts. For the model itself, see what changed in WeatherNext 3.
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The WeatherNext 3 release, step by step
Everything below is drawn from Google's announcement, the model paper and the public developer materials.
The research paper
The technical report (arXiv 2609.03582) documents the architecture, the satellite-driven training approach and the evaluation results behind the launch claims.
September 3, 2026: announcement and rollout
Google DeepMind introduced WeatherNext 3 as its most advanced and accurate global weather model, and said it would begin powering weather in Google Search, the Gemini app, Google Maps and more starting that day.
Same day: the product surfaces
Search, Gemini, Google Maps, the Google Maps Platform Weather API and Google Earth Engine all received the model at launch, focused first on improving longer-range forecasts.
Data for developers
Forecast fields became available to query in BigQuery and Earth Engine, and to bulk-download from Google Cloud Storage, with no model setup required.
Independent evaluation, live
Google pointed to independent live leaderboards by Brightband, where model runs are scored against observations as they happen rather than only in a one-off paper.
Weather Lab
An interactive research platform where you can explore the model's global forecast layers and compare it with meteorological baselines while evaluations continue.
What shipped on day one
The short version for anyone who just wants the capabilities.
Hourly global forecasts
The first global WeatherNext model generating forecasts every hour, built on live satellite data rather than six-hourly numerical analyses.
Roughly five times sharper
5 km resolution for station-targeted temperature and humidity against WeatherNext 2's 25 km grid, with wind at 10 km and upper-air levels around 25 km.
Precipitation as the flagship gain
Up to 50% more accurate precipitation forecasts a day or more ahead is the headline improvement, strongest in regions where forecasts were historically weakest.
Accessible without setup
You do not need to run anything: the forecasts reach Search, Maps and Gemini, and independent workspaces such as this one expose them directly in the browser.
WeatherNext 3 release questions
Dates, availability and the paper, answered briefly.
Want the mechanics rather than the timeline? The model page covers architecture, resolution and the paper.
Use the release, hour by hour
The launch is done; the forecasts refresh every hour. Start a 7-day free trial to put the September 2026 release to work for your location, or keep reading with the model deep dive and the forecast guide.
Related guides
The pages that go with this one, chosen by what each one answers.
