Real-time weather conditions now available as an Unreal Plugin for visual rendering with Weatherverse Sim by The Weather Company

For the first time, users of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine can now integrate high-fidelity global weather data into Unreal-powered simulation environments, whether offline or via API. 

ATLANTA – Nov. 7, 2024 – As weather grows more disruptive and impactful for people and businesses, it’s increasingly clear that proper planning requires reliable weather intelligence. As a provider of actual weather data for use in live, virtual, and constructive simulation environments, The Weather Company today announces Weatherverse^TM Sim for Unreal Engine is now available via plugin. Users of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine can now integrate offline or API-provided weather data for visual rendering within simulation environments. With access to high-fidelity weather data from the world’s most accurate weather forecaster,¹ anyone using Unreal-powered visual rendering can better visualize and understand the actual effects of weather conditions in an interactive and intuitive manner.

While many current simulations and digital twins use synthetic weather, The Weather Company’s Weatherverse™ solutions deliver real weather data, based upon historical, current and forecasted datasets and weather models, for use in planning and simulation environments at a global scale. This enables better informed insights, more confident decision making and improved outcomes where weather is a contributing influence.

“It’s no secret that weather impacts all of us every day. Whether you’re animating films, developing games, or creating 3D models or immersive experiences, being able to integrate realistic weather requires the most accurate forecasts and a trusted weather partner,” said Sheri Bachstein, president of The Weather Company. “This plugin is for anyone running simulations using the Unreal standard for visualization and who require the integration of actual, real-time weather conditions, rather than synthetic data and the limitations that can bring.”

A view of the actual weather in Washington, D.C. on a foggy day, as visualized within Weatherverse Sim by The Weather Company.

About the Technology: Better Accuracy Means Better Visualization

At the core of Weatherverse Sim is The Weather Company’s own GRAF system, a high-precision, rapidly-updating global weather modeling system capable of predicting phenomena as small as a thunderstorm virtually anywhere on the planet. The GRAF model uses high-resolution data to provide current and forecasted weather activity worldwide. As part of a continued collaboration with NVIDIA, The Weather Company will continue to advance weather forecasting, driven by AI, with GRAF to get an even more accurate forecast focused on high-resolution needs to help fuel business decisions with actionable forecasts and insights.

Weatherverse Sim utilizes the GRAF model to inject real weather data into planning and simulation environments, delivering accurate conditions from the surface up to 55,000 feet in elevation, in 1,000-foot increments. This results in hyper-realistic visual recreations of weather conditions, including clouds, precipitation, humidity, and visibility. Additionally, the data supports existing physics models in simulators, encompassing critical elements like turbulence, which, although invisible, can significantly impact objects and environments. For enhanced simulation rendering, Weatherverse Sim even incorporates probabilistic weather forecasts that express predictions as a range of possible outcomes with associated probabilities.

Weatherverse Sim for Unreal Engine can access current and forecast data anywhere around the globe from offline datasets as needed or, more commonly, via customizable API services tailored for each instance. Recognizing the diverse ways weather data can be used, The Weather Company offers variants to support a broad range of requirements—from simpler simulators that only need weather data for surface conditions to advanced Level-D simulators that benefit from increased fidelity with up to 50 additional vertical layers of data in 1,000-ft increments up to 55,000 feet in elevation. In every case, users can benefit from high-end, realistic weather condition visualizations for simulation needs anywhere in the world.

This plugin for Unreal Engine users is the next step in providing revolutionary weather capabilities to new audiences. Over the past year, The Weather Company team has been hard at work continuing to innovate and extend its expertise in weather forecasting into new markets with cutting-edge solutions. As one example, defense industry leaders and leading prime contractors are actively exploring Weatherverse solutions to improve the effectiveness of military planning, training and simulation outcomes. For more about Weatherverse SIM, visit www.weathercompany.com.

About The Weather Company
The Weather Company helps people and businesses around the world make more informed decisions and take action in the face of weather. With its deep industry expertise and highly accurate, high-volume weather data combined with advanced technology and AI, The Weather Company provides insights and solutions that harness the power of weather in a scalable, privacy-forward way. The world’s most accurate forecaster, the company serves hundreds of enterprise customers across media, advertising, aviation and more, and is trusted by hundreds of millions of monthly active users via digital properties from The Weather Channel (weather.com) and Weather Underground (wunderground.com). For more, visit weathercompany.com.