A weather file is a text file containing daily observations of temperature, humidity, wind, solar radiation, and precipitation at various elevations that profiles a particular climate zone's annual weather stream. It represents an average year from a 30 year period. To see what weather files we automatically reference see this link from the US Department of Energy: https://energyplus.net/weather

Weather files are used by energy modelers and building consultants in simulations where a building's performance is reviewed in its anticipated weather stream. By doing these energy simulations one can learn a building's annual energy use and costs, annual peak electrical demand, heating load, and cooling load. If the simulations are done early enough in the design process, the information learned can then be used to find optimal design solutions can elevate a building's performance.

Weather files are formatted into ".epw" files. EPW's were developed by the United States Department of Energy (DoE) to be a standard weather data format, to which several other data formats could be converted. These have been derived from a wide range of sources which includes TMY2, TMY3, IWEC, and RMY. In general, it is recommended to use ‘TMY3’ (Typical Meteorological Year 3) as it is more accurate unless it is too far from the subject site, in which case it is better to use ‘TMY2’. The world's weather files can be easily accessed and downloaded at EnergyPlus.

For locations outside of the United States where we do not have a code, we rely upon the ASHRAE Global Climate zone mapping to understand the correct inputs for that location, even if there is not a weather station nearby. Below is the global map followed by region specific mapping. These mappings are also used for the 2030 Bench-marking, as well.

Global Map of ASHRAE Climate Zones.

Here is an annotated map of new weather locations added to the cove.tool database. These are TMYx files sourced from https://climate.onebuilding.org/.
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We are constantly updating our weather file directory. You can always request weather locations you want to work with via LiveChat, and they will be included in the next weather file updates.