Choosing Which Forecast Models You Get

You can tell SmartMixin which forecast models you trust, and it will use them wherever they reach. This article explains how that choice works, what happens at stations your favourites do not cover, and how to make an exception for a single station.

There are two levels, and they work together:

• Your preferences — a short ordered list of models plus one fallback, applied to everything you own.
• A per-station choice — one station pinned to one model, overriding the above just there.

Note: Preferences are a Premium feature. On a free account the screen shows Preferences apply with Premium, and you are served GFS everywhere. Anything you set is kept, and starts applying the moment you subscribe.

Opening your forecast preferences

Preferred models

Preferred models is an ordered list of up to three models. The Add a model row below the list shows how many slots you have used — for example 0 of 3 · tap to choose.

The order matters. For each of your stations, SmartMixin walks your list from the top and uses the first model that reaches that station. It is not a vote or an average: the first one that covers the place wins there.

Adding, reordering and removing

1. Tap Add a model
2. Pick from Available at your stations — the models that actually reach at least one of your stations
3. Drag a row to change its priority; the model at the top is tried first
4. Remove a model from its own row — the × at its right — to free the slot

When all three slots are full the screen says All 3 slots used. Remove one to add another.

The picker hides models that reach none of your stations, and tells you how many it hid — for example "4 more models do not reach any of your stations". Choose Show the full catalogue if you want to see them anyway, which is useful before a trip or before adding a station somewhere new.

Where each model is actually used

This is the part worth reading. Under each preferred model, SmartMixin tells you where it is really being served — not where it could be:

What the row says	What it means
In use	You have one station, and this model serves it
Used at Garden, Roof	The stations it wins at, named
Used at all 6 stations	It covers your whole account
Used at 4 of 6 stations	It wins at some; another entry or the fallback covers the rest
Never used — a model above covers all your stations	The model is fine, but an entry higher in your list already reaches everywhere this one does. Move it up, or remove it
Never used — it reaches none of your stations	Its region does not include any of your stations

Those last two lines are the reason the list shows this at all. A wide model shadows everything below it: AROME's domain contains Berlin, so a list of AROME, then ICON-D2 serves AROME at both a French and a German station and ICON-D2 at neither. Putting ICON-D2 first fixes that — it does not reach France, so AROME still wins there.

If any station is left over, a line below the list names it: "Cottage: no preferred model reaches it — 'everywhere else' decides."

Everywhere else

Everywhere else is the single choice that answers for any station your preferred models do not reach. Four options:

Option	What you get
SmartMixin blend	Combines several models, each where it is strongest.
Highest resolution	The finest mesh available at each station.
ECMWF	ECMWF HRES wherever it reaches.
GFS	NOAA's global model. What every account uses today.

If you set no preferred models at all, this choice answers everywhere — which makes it a perfectly good way to use the feature on its own. SmartMixin blend is the option to pick if you would rather not think about models at all; see Understanding Forecast Models for what it does.

Starting over

Reset to default clears your preferred models and your fallback, returning you to the SmartMixin default. It does not touch any per-station choices.

Setting one station to one model

Sometimes you want an exception: this one station, always this model. That lives on the station itself, not in Settings.

1. Open the station or saved location
2. Tap the forecast chip floating in the bottom-right corner of the dashboard — it names the model in use
3. The picker opens, listing every model available at that point
4. Tap a model. It applies straight away and the picker closes — there is no confirmation step
5. To read about a model before choosing it, tap its ⓘ instead; the detail view has a Use model for this station button at the bottom

The strip at the top of the picker always tells you why you are getting what you are getting:

Strip	Meaning
Following your preferences — AROME — your first preferred model that reaches this station.	Your list decided, and this is the entry that won
Following your preferences — No preferred model reaches this station — "everywhere else" decides.	Your fallback decided
Following your preferences — No preferred models set yet.	You have not set any preferences
Set for this station — Your preferences apply everywhere else.	This station is pinned to one model
Preferences apply with Premium	Free account — GFS everywhere

To undo an exception, open the picker again and choose Stop using here, or select Use my preferred models. The station goes back to following your list.

Tip: A per-station choice only affects that station. Everything else keeps following your preferences — which is what the "Your preferences apply everywhere else" line is telling you.

The picker also has a Forecast models row at the bottom that takes you straight to the settings described above.

Common questions

I chose a model but the forecast still shows a different one. Check whether that model reaches the station. Regional models only cover their own area, and a model that does not reach a point cannot serve it — your next preferred model, or Everywhere else, answers instead. The picker lists only the models actually available at that point.

I set a preferred model and nothing changed. Look at the line under the row. Never used — a model above covers all your stations means an entry higher in your list got there first; move the new one up.

Does this change my other devices? Yes. Preferences are saved to your account, so the phone and the web app stay in step.

Does this affect my station's measurements? No. This only decides which forecast you are shown. Your station's own readings are unaffected.

Related articles

• Understanding Forecast Models — what each model is, and what its specifications mean
• Weather Forecasts in SmartMixin — where forecasts appear and how to read them
• Comparing Forecast Models Side by Side — put several models side by side before choosing

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