News

The EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service implemented by ECMWF has produced a comprehensive overview of last year’s European climate. The European State of the Climate 2020 also includes a focus on the Arctic and a summary of global conditions.

A change in ECMWF’s seasonal prediction system SEAS5 has reduced the underprediction of tropical storms. Frédéric Vitart had a key role in developing it.

The latest climate projections for the coming decades are now available in the Climate Data Store of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). A special event for decision-makers in Spain explored how such C3S climate data can help drive solutions for water and energy sectors.

This year, World Meteorological Day on 23 March focuses on ‘The ocean, our climate and weather’. At ECMWF, the ocean is an integral part of ensemble forecasts for medium, extended and seasonal ranges.

ECMWF will host a three-day virtual event on global to local hydrological modelling and forecasting from 29 June 2021. Abstract submission is open until 31 March 2021.

The year 2020 continued the upward trend of global forecast performance, driven by regular updates of the Integrated Forecasting System. Headline scores show positive effects in medium-range as well as extended-range forecasts.

ECMWF will present EU plans on 5 March to develop a high-precision digital model of our planet. The purpose is to create a digital twin of the Earth that will make it possible to explore various natural processes and human activities.

This year’s Annual Seminar is dedicated to the topic of observations. It will run from 12 to 18 September 2021 in Bonn, Germany, and is being held in coordination with the WCRP–WWRP Symposium on Data Assimilation and Reanalysis.

A European programme to build a monitoring and verification support capability for global emissions of carbon dioxide related to human activities entered a new phase in January 2021 to deliver a prototype system by the end of 2023.

Registration and the call for abstracts are now open for this year’s Using ECMWF’s Forecasts (UEF2021) meeting. The UEF2021 theme is ‘Weather in extraordinary circumstances’ and it aims to bring together a diversity of experience and backgrounds to discuss ECMWF products and services.