Hurricane tracks

Tropical Disturbance Dolly Model Accuracy: DeepMind vs GFS vs WeatherNext 3

Final advisory

NHC issued its final advisory at 8:00 AM ET Fri, Aug 28.

Tropical Disturbance Dolly has 31 positions on the best track, which is where the storm actually went, from the operational NHC file. 4 official forecast tracks are drawn. At 48 hours, the average track miss is 44 miles across 4 forecasts. At 48 hours, the official wind forecast averaged 40 mph and where the storm actually went averaged 35 mph. Stored model tracks on these forecast tracks: GFS, GEFS mean, Canadian GEM, UKMET, HAFS-A, HAFS-B, HWRF, HMON, NAVGEM, Google DeepMind, WeatherNext 3.

AL042026 · 2026 · Aug 24-31, 2026. Score table. Damage reports.

How to read this. The solid line is where the storm went. A dashed line is where the official forecast said it would go. A smaller path miss is closer. Distances are statute miles. Wind speeds are miles per hour.

The technical details

Path miss on this page is the great-circle distance in statute miles, the same miles as the home card and the score table. The Earth radius is 3,958.7613 miles. The file also keeps that distance in nautical miles. One nautical mile is 1,852 meters, about 1.15 statute miles. A case counts when that forecast and the best track (BEST, lead 0) share the same valid time. Positions are not interpolated. A model track counts even when that cycle has no official forecast yet. Skill against the official forecast (OFCL) still requires the official forecast from the same issue time and lead.

Shown leads are 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 96, and 120 hours, once a paired fix exists. Sample size is the number of paired cases at that lead. Overall rank still uses 24, 48, 72, and 120 hours. The 96-hour lead is drawn when the deck has a paired fix, and it is not in that rank.

Wind on this page is miles per hour. The file stores maximum wind in knots. One knot is about 1.15 miles per hour. An advisory wind is rounded to the nearest 5 mph. A mean on this page is rounded to the nearest mile per hour. Wind miss is the absolute difference on the paired cases. There is no confidence interval on this map. The daily board’s interval is a 95% percentile bootstrap.

Overall rank is the average of the path rank and the wind rank on this storm. Each rank uses the graded leads at 24, 48, 72, and 120 hours, and each of those leads counts once, however many forecasts it holds. A lower miss is the better rank. A tie shares the average of the places those forecasts occupy. A source is ranked only with at least 3 graded forecasts for path and 3 for wind. Fewer than that says Not enough forecasts yet. A source with no graded path, or no graded wind, is left out of both ranks, and overall shows —.

The best track is the operational NHC b-deck. It is preliminary and revised after the season. HURDAT2 is not loaded. Model lines come from the public a-deck for the same forecast tracks, and only when that file stores them. Google DeepMind is the Weather Lab operational ensemble mean. WeatherNext 3 is that model’s ensemble mean from the same download. ECMWF AIFS, ECMWF HRES, and the ECMWF ENS mean are tropical-cyclone tracks from ECMWF open data. The ECMWF ENS mean is the average of the member centers in the IFS ensemble track file. AI GFS is NOAA’s AIGFS tracker when that file is still posted. The methodology page names the aids that are scored.

The methodology page is the full reference. How we grade says the same rules in plain English.

The best track is the operational NHC b-deck. It is preliminary and is revised after the season. The post-season HURDAT2 track is not loaded.

ECMWF AIFS, ECMWF HRES, ECMWF ENS mean, AI GFS: No graded forecasts yet.

Overall rank

Overall averages each forecast's rank on path and on wind strength. See the separate scores below.

Place on this list. 1 was closest to the weather that happened. A tie shares this number, and the next place skips ahead. Early read until the longer day count, then proven. The forecast source this row scores. Path and wind ranksOverall averages each forecast's rank on path and on wind strength. See the separate scores below. Track rankPlace on path miss. 1 was closest. On one storm this is that place. Across storms it is the average of those places. Each graded lead counts once. A tie shares the average place. Intensity rankPlace on wind miss. 1 was closest. On one storm this is that place. Across storms it is the average of those places. Each graded lead counts once. A tie shares the average place.
1 Canadian GEM 4 6 2
1 NHC official 4 3 5
3 WeatherNext 3 4.5 1 8
4 GEFS mean 5 9 1
5 GFS 5.5 7 4
6 Google DeepMind 6.5 2 11
7 HAFS-A 7 4 10
7 HAFS-B 7 5 9
7 UKMET 7 11 3
10 NAVGEM 7.5 8 7
11 HMON 8 10 6
12 HWRF 12 12 12

Track and intensity by model

Each row is one source at one lead that has already verified, including 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours. The count is how many forecasts shared a time with where the storm went. Path miss is statute miles. Wind miss is miles per hour. The rank number is that source's place in the table above, and it still uses 24, 48, 72, and 120 hours.

Place on this list. 1 was closest to the weather that happened. A tie shares this number, and the next place skips ahead. Early read until the longer day count, then proven. The forecast source this row scores. LeadHow many hours ahead this forecast was made. Scored leads are 24, 48, 72, and 120. The technical name is lead. CasesHow many past forecasts went into this average. A forecast counts only when the best track has a fix at that exact time. The technical name is cases. Track errorAverage how far the predicted storm path was from where it actually went, in miles. Lower is better. The technical name is track error. Track skillHow that path miss compares with the official hurricane forecast. Positive means better than the official forecast. Negative means worse. The technical name is track skill. Intensity errorAverage how far off the predicted wind speed was, in miles per hour. The file stores knots. Lower is better. The technical name is intensity error. Intensity skillHow that wind miss compares with the official hurricane forecast. Positive means better. Negative means worse. The technical name is intensity skill.
1 Canadian GEM 12 h 12 32 mi Beats the official forecast by 44% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 40%
1 Canadian GEM 24 h 12 37 mi Beats the official forecast by 26% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 40%
1 Canadian GEM 36 h 11 54 mi Behind the official forecast by 5% 3 mph Beats the official forecast by 67%
1 Canadian GEM 48 h 10 64 mi Behind the official forecast by 51% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 93%
1 Canadian GEM 60 h 9 87 mi Behind the official forecast by 54% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 40%
1 Canadian GEM 72 h 8 100 mi Behind the official forecast by 85% 3 mph Beats the official forecast by 40%
1 Canadian GEM 96 h 5 146 mi — 4 mph —
1 Canadian GEM 120 h 3 267 mi — 8 mph —
1 NHC official 12 h 5 40 mi — 3 mph —
1 NHC official 24 h 5 65 mi — 5 mph —
1 NHC official 36 h 4 60 mi — 7 mph —
1 NHC official 48 h 4 44 mi — 6 mph —
1 NHC official 60 h 4 69 mi — 3 mph —
1 NHC official 72 h 1 61 mi — 6 mph —
3 WeatherNext 3 12 h 11 21 mi Beats the official forecast by 32% 5 mph Beats the official forecast by 67%
3 WeatherNext 3 24 h 10 36 mi Beats the official forecast by 34% 7 mph Beats the official forecast by 20%
3 WeatherNext 3 36 h 6 37 mi Beats the official forecast by 23% 7 mph Beats the official forecast by 12%
3 WeatherNext 3 48 h 4 46 mi Behind the official forecast by 6% 10 mph Behind the official forecast by 75%
3 WeatherNext 3 60 h 1 53 mi Behind the official forecast by 120% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 60%
4 GEFS mean 12 h 26 57 mi Beats the official forecast by 9% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 20%
4 GEFS mean 24 h 24 64 mi Behind the official forecast by 3% 5 mph Beats the official forecast by 10%
4 GEFS mean 36 h 22 78 mi Behind the official forecast by 61% 5 mph Beats the official forecast by 56%
4 GEFS mean 48 h 20 104 mi Behind the official forecast by 120% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 80%
4 GEFS mean 60 h 18 140 mi Behind the official forecast by 74% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 60%
4 GEFS mean 72 h 16 184 mi Behind the official forecast by 166% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 100%
4 GEFS mean 96 h 12 297 mi — 6 mph —
4 GEFS mean 120 h 8 480 mi — 8 mph —
5 GFS 12 h 26 62 mi Beats the official forecast by 41% 5 mph Behind the official forecast by 7%
5 GFS 24 h 24 71 mi Beats the official forecast by 27% 5 mph Behind the official forecast by 20%
5 GFS 36 h 22 76 mi Behind the official forecast by 26% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 48%
5 GFS 48 h 20 98 mi Behind the official forecast by 82% 7 mph Beats the official forecast by 30%
5 GFS 60 h 18 147 mi Behind the official forecast by 66% 7 mph Beats the official forecast by 70%
5 GFS 72 h 16 195 mi Behind the official forecast by 161% 9 mph Beats the official forecast by 60%
5 GFS 96 h 12 340 mi — 12 mph —
5 GFS 120 h 8 628 mi — 15 mph —
6 Google DeepMind 12 h 12 33 mi Beats the official forecast by 36% 6 mph Beats the official forecast by 67%
6 Google DeepMind 24 h 7 44 mi Beats the official forecast by 29% 7 mph Behind the official forecast by 10%
6 Google DeepMind 36 h 5 52 mi Behind the official forecast by 1% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 20%
6 Google DeepMind 48 h 3 57 mi Behind the official forecast by 34% 14 mph Behind the official forecast by 147%
6 Google DeepMind 60 h 1 30 mi Beats the official forecast by 14% 14 mph Behind the official forecast by 140%
7 UKMET 12 h 12 42 mi Beats the official forecast by 51% 3 mph Behind the official forecast by 10%
7 UKMET 24 h 12 63 mi Beats the official forecast by 39% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 27%
7 UKMET 36 h 11 80 mi Behind the official forecast by 18% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 73%
7 UKMET 48 h 10 95 mi Behind the official forecast by 113% 3 mph Beats the official forecast by 80%
7 UKMET 60 h 9 109 mi Behind the official forecast by 125% 4 mph Beats the official forecast by 40%
7 UKMET 72 h 8 121 mi Behind the official forecast by 254% 3 mph Beats the official forecast by 20%
7 UKMET 96 h 6 136 mi — 3 mph —
7 UKMET 120 h 4 151 mi — 5 mph —
7 HAFS-A 12 h 25 56 mi Beats the official forecast by 32% 11 mph Beats the official forecast by 40%
7 HAFS-A 24 h 23 61 mi Beats the official forecast by 28% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 25%
7 HAFS-A 36 h 21 71 mi Behind the official forecast by 8% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 24%
7 HAFS-A 48 h 19 69 mi Behind the official forecast by 19% 11 mph Behind the official forecast by 80%
7 HAFS-A 60 h 17 85 mi Beats the official forecast by 50% 11 mph Behind the official forecast by 160%
7 HAFS-A 72 h 16 97 mi Behind the official forecast by 48% 10 mph Behind the official forecast by 80%
7 HAFS-A 96 h 12 181 mi — 17 mph —
7 HAFS-A 120 h 8 331 mi — 16 mph —
7 HAFS-B 12 h 25 63 mi Beats the official forecast by 38% 11 mph Behind the official forecast by 20%
7 HAFS-B 24 h 23 71 mi Beats the official forecast by 32% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 5%
7 HAFS-B 36 h 21 77 mi Beats the official forecast by 4% 10 mph Behind the official forecast by 48%
7 HAFS-B 48 h 19 78 mi Behind the official forecast by 7% 10 mph Behind the official forecast by 50%
7 HAFS-B 60 h 17 97 mi Beats the official forecast by 43% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 120%
7 HAFS-B 72 h 16 121 mi Behind the official forecast by 96% 12 mph Behind the official forecast by 60%
7 HAFS-B 96 h 12 207 mi — 13 mph —
7 HAFS-B 120 h 8 429 mi — 11 mph —
10 NAVGEM 12 h 16 70 mi Behind the official forecast by 78% 8 mph Behind the official forecast by 200%
10 NAVGEM 24 h 16 92 mi Behind the official forecast by 44% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 60%
10 NAVGEM 36 h 15 128 mi Behind the official forecast by 144% 11 mph Behind the official forecast by 33%
10 NAVGEM 48 h 14 168 mi Behind the official forecast by 182% 12 mph Beats the official forecast by 13%
10 NAVGEM 60 h 10 211 mi Behind the official forecast by 433% 13 mph Behind the official forecast by 40%
10 NAVGEM 72 h 7 259 mi — 13 mph —
10 NAVGEM 96 h 5 486 mi — 11 mph —
10 NAVGEM 120 h 5 705 mi — 6 mph —
11 HMON 12 h 21 60 mi Behind the official forecast by 12% 6 mph Behind the official forecast by 13%
11 HMON 24 h 21 49 mi Behind the official forecast by 7% 6 mph Ties the official forecast
11 HMON 36 h 18 71 mi Behind the official forecast by 82% 8 mph Behind the official forecast by 40%
11 HMON 48 h 16 105 mi Behind the official forecast by 195% 8 mph Behind the official forecast by 95%
11 HMON 60 h 14 143 mi Behind the official forecast by 122% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 50%
11 HMON 72 h 13 187 mi Behind the official forecast by 158% 9 mph Beats the official forecast by 60%
11 HMON 96 h 10 246 mi — 12 mph —
11 HMON 120 h 6 541 mi — 12 mph —
12 HWRF 12 h 21 49 mi Behind the official forecast by 11% 10 mph Beats the official forecast by 13%
12 HWRF 24 h 21 65 mi Behind the official forecast by 28% 8 mph Behind the official forecast by 95%
12 HWRF 36 h 19 85 mi Behind the official forecast by 97% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 108%
12 HWRF 48 h 17 121 mi Behind the official forecast by 205% 10 mph Behind the official forecast by 95%
12 HWRF 60 h 15 157 mi Behind the official forecast by 177% 9 mph Behind the official forecast by 100%
12 HWRF 72 h 14 222 mi Behind the official forecast by 290% 15 mph Behind the official forecast by 360%
12 HWRF 96 h 10 314 mi — 14 mph —
12 HWRF 120 h 6 533 mi — 14 mph —

ECMWF AIFS, ECMWF HRES, ECMWF ENS mean, AI GFS: No graded forecasts yet.

Track map

The solid line is the best track. Dashed lines are official forecast tracks from a few advisories, from the issue position out through the leads stored in that advisory. Thinner lines are model tracks from NHC’s public a-deck for those same advisories, and only when that file actually contains them. Google DeepMind and WeatherNext 3 are ensemble-mean tracks from Weather Lab, drawn on those same advisories. ECMWF AIFS, ECMWF HRES, and the ECMWF ENS mean are open-data cyclone tracks, drawn the same way. AI GFS is NOAA’s AIGFS tracker, drawn when that file is still posted.

9°N 16°N 24°N 32°N 108°W 74°W 40°W 7°W
Map of Tropical Disturbance Dolly. The best track, where the storm actually went, has 31 positions. 4 official forecast tracks are drawn. Model lines: GFS, GEFS mean, Canadian GEM, UKMET, HAFS-A, HAFS-B, HWRF, HMON, NAVGEM, Google DeepMind, WeatherNext 3. Latitude and longitude, scaled by the cosine of the mid-latitude so a degree of longitude is not stretched.
  • Actual track (31 positions)
  • NHC official Aug 27, 12:00 UTC
  • NHC official Aug 27, 18:00 UTC
  • NHC official Aug 28, 00:00 UTC
  • NHC official Aug 28, 06:00 UTC
  • GFS
  • GEFS mean
  • Canadian GEM
  • UKMET
  • HAFS-A
  • HAFS-B
  • HWRF
  • HMON
  • NAVGEM
  • Google DeepMind
  • WeatherNext 3

The chart measures how far the track was off in statute miles, the same miles as the home card. It includes 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 96, and 120 hours when a paired fix exists. The overall rank uses 24, 48, 72, and 120 hours. Positions are not interpolated.

How far the track was off

40 mi 12 h 65 mi 24 h 60 mi 36 h 44 mi 48 h 69 mi 60 h 61 mi 72 h
Average official track miss in miles by how far ahead. 12 hours 40 miles over 5 forecasts. 24 hours 65 miles over 5 forecasts. 36 hours 60 miles over 4 forecasts. 48 hours 44 miles over 4 forecasts. 60 hours 69 miles over 4 forecasts. 72 hours 61 miles over 1 forecast.
LeadHow many hours ahead this forecast was made. This map shows 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 96, and 120 when a paired fix exists. Overall rank uses 24, 48, 72, and 120. The technical name is lead. CasesHow many past forecasts went into this average. A forecast counts only when the best track has a fix at that exact time. The technical name is cases. Track errorAverage how far the predicted storm path was from where it actually went, in statute miles. Lower is better. The technical name is track error. Intensity errorAverage how far off the predicted wind speed was, in miles per hour, on this page. Lower is better. The file stores knots. The technical name is intensity error. Forecast max windAverage top wind in the official forecast, in miles per hour, on the paired cases. The file stores knots. The technical name is forecast maximum wind. Best-track windAverage top wind where the storm actually went, in miles per hour, at the same times. The file stores knots. The technical name is best-track wind.
12 h 5 40 mi 3 mph 44 mph 40 mph
24 h 5 65 mi 5 mph 44 mph 39 mph
36 h 4 60 mi 7 mph 45 mph 37 mph
48 h 4 44 mi 6 mph 40 mph 35 mph
60 h 4 69 mi 3 mph 37 mph 35 mph
72 h 1 61 mi 6 mph 40 mph 35 mph

Miles are statute miles. Wind is miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center file stores wind in knots. One knot is about 1.15 miles per hour. Nautical miles are in the technical details.

Top wind

12 h 24 h 36 h 48 h 60 h 72 h
Top wind, official forecast versus where the storm went. At 12 hours the forecast averaged 44 mph and where the storm actually went averaged 40 mph. At 24 hours the forecast averaged 44 mph and where the storm actually went averaged 39 mph. At 36 hours the forecast averaged 45 mph and where the storm actually went averaged 37 mph. At 48 hours the forecast averaged 40 mph and where the storm actually went averaged 35 mph. At 60 hours the forecast averaged 37 mph and where the storm actually went averaged 35 mph. At 72 hours the forecast averaged 40 mph and where the storm actually went averaged 35 mph.
  • Official forecast maximum wind
  • Best-track maximum wind

Source: National Hurricane Center / NOAA. The operational b-deck and the public a-deck are U.S. government works in the public domain. Google DeepMind and WeatherNext 3 ensemble means are experimental forecasts from Google DeepMind Weather Lab. Forecasts older than 48 hours are used under CC BY 4.0. ECMWF AIFS, ECMWF HRES, and ECMWF ENS tracks are ECMWF open data, used under CC BY 4.0. AI GFS tracks are a NOAA AIGFS product. Forecast Scoreboard is not affiliated with NHC, NOAA, Google, or ECMWF.