European Severe Weather Database (ESWD)

The objective of the ESWD is to collect and provide detailed and quality-controlled information on severe convective storm events over Europe.

In collaboration with our partners including networks of voluntary observers, meteorological services and general public, many tens of thousands of reports have been collected.

View the ESWD database…

Use of data from the public eswd.eu website

You may use any data retrieved from the ESWD website according to the conditions stipulated in the User’s Agreement. For instance, commercial use is not allowed. By using the ESWD data, you accept all conditions in this Agreement (even when not actually signing the Agreement and returning it to ESSL). Please note that ESSL is not liable for any linked content included in the ESWD.

Obtaining more data

1. For academic or personal non-commercial use

Please fill in the following User’s Agreement, sign it, and return it as a PDF file via our application form here

In the form you will be asked

  • for what project you want to use the data
  • for what area, time period and event types you need data.

We will then work with you to find a solution for your needs. For use in larger, funded projects, we typically request a fee as a contribution to our efforts collecting and managing the data. 

In case of technical or other issues please contact User Support at eswd@essl.org.

2. Other use

Organizations can become a general user by paying a fee that depends on the size of your organization, or by becoming an institutional supporting member of ESSL.  Please contact User Support at eswd@essl.org.

ESWD User Guide Document

Within this document, you can find a basic advice on using the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD), based on our own experiences and frequently asked questions to our User Support at eswd@essl.org.

ESWD User Guide (PDF)

ESWD Data Format Specification

This report describes the ESWD data format, which has been developed for the documentation and exchange of information on severe weather events. The ESWD data format is used operationally in the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) that is managed and maintained by the European Severe Storms Laboratory (Dotzek et al. 2009; Groenemeijer et al. 2017).

ESWD Data Format Specification (PDF)

Reference

In your scientific manuscript for which you have used the ESWD, please cite the following article:

  • Dotzek, N., P. Groenemeijer, B. Feuerstein, and A. M. Holzer, 2009a: Overview of ESSL’s severe convective storms research using the European Severe Weather Database ESWD. Atmos. Res., 93, 575−586