The European Severe Storms Laboratory conducts research on severe convective storms, tornados, heavy precipitation events and avalanches across Europe and the Mediterranean. It operates the widely consulted European Severe Weather Database.
History and purpose of the ESSL
The European Severe Storms Laboratory started as an informal network of European scientists with the goal to advance research on severe convective storms and extreme weather events on a European level. It was initiated in 2002 by Nikolai Dotzek and became a non-profit organization with charitable status in 2006. The ESSL focuses on research questions concerning convective storms and other extreme weather phenomena which can be treated more efficiently on a pan-European scale. It can be seen as the European equivalent to America's National Severe Storms Laboratory. The statutory purposes of the ESSL are:
to advance research on severe convective storms and extreme weather events on a European level
to operate and extend the European Severe Weather Database
to support or organize the European Conferences on Severe Storms
European Severe Weather Database
The European Severe Weather Database collects and verifies reports on dust, sand- or steam devils, tornado sightings, gustnados, large hail, heavy rain and snowfall, severe wind gusts, damaging lightning strikes and avalanches all over Europe and around the Mediterranean. The ESWD is the most important database for such events in Europe. Everybody is welcome to report extreme weather observations. Each report undergoes a quality control and each event is flagged either as received, plausibility checked, report confirmed by other observer or as fully verified by trusted source.
European Conference on Severe Storms
The European Conference on Severe Storms is a conference series organized by the ESSL since 2002 and taking place biannually. During the ESSL two prices are offered:
The Heino-Tooming-Award is named after the meteorologist Heino Tooming and awards excellent scientific work on severe storms in European collaborations.
The Nikolai Dotzek Award is named after meteorologist Nikolai Dotzek and honors distinguished scientific individual performance or lifetime achievement.
