Aurora 1.5: Extending open foundation models for weather and Earth-system applications
TL;DR
Microsoft expands Aurora 1.5 with 22 additional weather variables, hourly resolution, and probabilistic ensemble forecasting. The open Earth-system model now targets more practical use cases than the original release. The model is open source on GitHub, with checkpoints on Hugging Face. Microsoft frames Aurora 1.5 both as a research asset and as a component for Microsoft Weather, Foundry, and Planetary Computer Pro workflows.
Nauti's Take
This is more than a polished research update: ensemble forecasts and hourly resolution are exactly the pieces that make weather AI more useful for real decisions. Still, the post is clearly Microsoft-heavy.
The 88.9 percent figure sounds strong, but without broad independent benchmarking it remains a vendor claim. The most interesting part is the hybrid path: open research model, commercial operational layer close to Azure.
Briefingshow
AI weather models become more useful when they move beyond fast single forecasts and include uncertainty, more variables, and operational time scales. Aurora 1.5 therefore matters for energy trading, agriculture, transport planning, and disaster response. The key question is whether independent evaluations confirm Microsoft’s reported gains.
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