In this article, we describe an implementation of single‐precision fast spherical harmonic transform (SHT) in the Yin–He global spectral model (YHGSM). The potential of single‐precision arithmetic is explored for accelerating fast SHT. In particular, we assess the impact of using single‐precision fast SHT on the meteorological skill of YHGSM. Compared to double‐precision SHT, single‐precision fast SHT against is accelerated by about 59.83%, whereas the run‐time reduction achieved 25.28% in model integration for TL2047L137. The simulation results indicate that single‐precision fast SHT can improve computational efficiency without a noticeable impact on the forecast skill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]