Science blog

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Simplifying AI for weather forecasting with the European Weather Cloud

Rising demand for AI and ML workloads on the EWC has driven ECMWF to develop ready-made templates that democratise access by simplifying setup and lowering technical barriers. Available through the EWC Community Hub, they help users focus on science over infrastructure.
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Forecasting of convective weather in Indonesia

Ruth Mahubessy explores how Indonesia’s complex weather patterns challenge forecasters and how a new ECMWF–WMO Fellowship project aims to improve predictions of extreme rainfall and landspouts in the tropics.
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Evaluating rainfall forecasts in Ecuador: Observations from AI and physical models

WMO Fellow Angela Iza Wong explores the challenge of forecasting rainfall in Ecuador.
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Getting the most out of ECMWF sub-seasonal forecasts

Tim Hewson introduces a new type of forecast map which enables users to visualise the information content of sub-seasonal forecasts like never before.
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The AI Weather Quest: uniting international expertise to advance sub-seasonal forecasting

As the competition phase of the AI Weather Quest starts, the organisers introduce the competition framework and establish a baseline by assessing the skill of current dynamical sub-seasonal forecast models.
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Small-but-mighty Arctic Weather Satellite now assimilated at ECMWF

ECMWF has started operational assimilation of data from a trail-blazing small satellite launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) that provides new microwave sounding measurements from space. The new observations give a robust forecast improvement, complementing similar sensors from larger platforms.
Los Angeles fires January 2025

2025 California wildfires: insights from ECMWF forecasts

On 7 January 2025, a series of devastating wildfires started in Los Angeles. ECMWF, which has been producing fire danger forecasts since 2018, has been exploring new approaches to fire forecasting in recent years.
Flooded rice plantation in the Pacific coast region near Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 2017

Forecasting extreme events in Ecuador

The challenge of forecasting extreme events across Ecuador is the focus for Angela Iza Wong, from the Ecuador Hydrometeorological Service, during her year at ECMWF as a WMO Fellow.
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Reflections on the 4th ESA-ECMWF Workshop on Machine Learning for Earth System Observation and Prediction

As one of the organisers of the joint ESA-ECMWF Workshop, Massimo Bonavita discusses some of the highlights and considers the future role of machine learning for weather and climate prediction.
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Machine learning ignites wildfire forecasting

Joe McNorton reports on recent success in forecasting wildfires using machine learning at resolutions as high as 1 km and work to incorporate a wildfire component into ECMWF’s Integrated Forecasting System.
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Heat stress and the European heatwave of 2023

Claudia Di Napoli looks back at the extreme heat in parts of Europe this summer and describes her work to develop forecasts of heat stress and other weather-related health hazards.
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European heatwave July 2023

Europe is experiencing some of the hottest temperatures of summer 2023 so far, with parts of Greece, eastern Spain, Sardinia, Sicily and southern Italy seeing temperatures above 45°C at the start of this week.
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The rise of machine learning in weather forecasting

ML-based weather prediction models have developed rapidly over the last year with exciting results. A group of our scientists discuss developments and their potential implications for the future.
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The strange phenomenon of large-scale cloud-clearing waves in the atmosphere

While looking at kilometre-scale simulations, Philippe Lopez and Inna Polichtchouk spotted unusual cloud-free areas in the tropics which also appeared in observations. Here they describe their investigation of this large-scale cloud-clearing wave phenomenon.
International Women's Day

One woman's journey to a career in Earth system modelling

To mark International Women’s Day, Birgit Sützl, an early career research scientist at ECMWF, shares her experiences of studying maths at university and her journey to find her perfect career path in Earth system modelling.
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Maldives Meteorological Service and ECMWF collaborate through the WMO Fellowship Scheme

Ahmed Shabin from the Maldives Meteorological Service shares his plans for the year ahead at ECMWF as a WMO Fellow.
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Verifying high-resolution forecasts

Higher-resolution forecasts need different methods to assess their accuracy than lower-resolution forecasts. Thomas Haiden and Llorenç Lledó discuss some of their work in this field.
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EFAS kilometre-scale flood forecasting: hydrology meets computer science

Cinzia Mazzetti talks us through the upgrade of the European Flood Awareness System from 5 km to around 1.5 km, and how hydrologists, meteorologists and computer scientists are working together to achieve success.
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ECMWF Summer of Weather Code 2022

Now in its fifth year, ECMWF’s Summer of Weather Code continues to develop innovative software solutions which tackle a range of challenges in weather and climate, by bringing together external teams with ECMWF experts. Esperanza Cuartero and Julia Wagemann take us through this year’s projects.