Kazakhstan has introduced a new high-resolution digital weather forecasting system powered by the country’s most powerful supercomputer, marking a significant step toward strengthening national hydrometeorological security.
The National Hydrometeorological Service, Kazhydromet, has deployed the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model across the entire territory of the country. The system provides forecasts with a spatial resolution of 2 kilometers, significantly enhancing the accuracy and detail of weather predictions.
All computations are carried out on Central Asia’s most powerful supercomputer at the Farabi Supercomputer Center, located at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty.
According to Amirkhan Temirbayev, Director of the Farabi Supercomputer Center, the new model strengthens Kazakhstan’s ability to anticipate hazardous natural phenomena and respond more effectively to climate-related risks.
“The new system improves early warnings of dangerous weather events, particularly in the mountainous regions of Almaty and southeastern Kazakhstan and enhances the country’s hydrometeorological security. Accurately modeling atmospheric processes requires millions of calculations that conventional servers cannot handle. A supercomputer is no longer just a scientific instrument, it is infrastructure of national importance,” Temirbayev said.
He added that the initiative demonstrates how university-based high-performance computing resources are increasingly being used to address applied government needs. While the supercomputer is currently dedicated to weather forecasting, potential future applications include flood and mudflow modeling, climate analysis, air quality monitoring, and digital urban simulations.
Kazhydromet plans to publish outputs from the new WRF model on its official website, where users will have access to interactive weather maps and detailed forecasts for all regions of Kazakhstan.
