The Twenty-Year Anniversary of the European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL)

The European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL) was founded in 2006 as a non-profit research organization building on a pre-existing informal network of European scientists. ESSL was created to foster pan-European collaboration in the study and forecasting of severe convective storms, tornadoes, and extreme weather events. Since then, it has grown into a leading centre for severe weather research, education, and operational support with various activities aimed at reducing the impact of extreme meteorological events on society.

ESSL’s core activities include the development and maintenance of the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) together with its network of volunteers. The ESWD has grown to contain approximately 500,000 events and forms the basis for a wide range of research and development work as shown by its citations in over 400 peer-reviewed publications. 

The Additive Regression Convective Hazard Models (AR-CHaMo), and the Weather Data Displayer and Radar Displayer, a sophisticated platform for visualizing and analysing meteorological data, are among the most important severe weather analysis tools that ESSL has developed. The AR-CHaMo models were originally developed for climate analysis and are an important tool for risk assessments by both public authorities and the reinsurance sector. They have also been adapted for use in the prediction of severe storm hazards, in collaboration with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Since 2025, the Displayer and tailored AR-CHaMo-based products can be licensed by ESSL Services, a private sector spin-off of ESSL.

Over the years, ESSL has published a wide range of peer-reviewed publications on topics ranging from the relation between severe storms and climate change to analyses of severe storms, their impacts and their detection. Currently, ESSL is leading the initiative for a large-scale multi year field campaign named TIM for the collection of data on severe storms to improve the understanding of their evolution near mountain ranges.

ESSL's annual Testbeds and its training programs, including specialized courses for forecasters, often held at its Research and Training Centre in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. These initiatives are conducted in close cooperation with EUMETSAT, ECMWF and weather services, for example focusing on preparing meteorologists for new satellite capabilities, such as those offered by the Meteosat Third Generation. Joint workshops and expert-led sessions ensure that forecasters are equipped with the latest tools and knowledge to enhance severe weather prediction and response.

Through its partnerships with national or regional meteorological services and international organizations, many of whom are one of ESSL's 32 Full Institutional Members, the laboratory continues to advance the science of severe storms, and strengthen the resilience of European communities to high-impact weather events.