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Dataset

 

Cyclones, fronts, thunderstorms, and their concurrence: Seven categories of European storm type identified in ECMWF ERA5 over the North Atlantic region

Update Frequency: Not Planned
Latest Data Update: 2026-05-19
Status: Completed
Online Status: ONLINE
Publication State: Published
Publication Date: 2026-09-11
Download Stats: last 12 months
Dataset Size: 470 Files | 216MB

Abstract

A dataset of storm types over Europe developed for the purpose of understanding the importance of these storm types for precipitation in the region.

The files are gridded NetCDF format containing one month of data each. They are the storm types identified from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis dataset (ERA5) identified over the North Atlantic/European region.

The storm types are numbered from 1-7 as follows:
1 - cyclone only
2 - front only
3 - thunderstorm only
4 - cyclone + front
5 - cyclone + thunderstorm
6 - front + thunderstorm
7 - cyclone + front + thunderstorm

The cyclones and fronts are identified using updated versions of the algorithms described in Catto and Dowdy (2021), specifically the front identification of Sansom and Catto (2023). The thunderstorm data is calculated using a proxy described in Dowdy (2022). See links to publications below.

The storm type data are on a 0.25 degree longitude-latitude grid between 20.75 and 69.25 degrees N and 45 degrees W to 45 degrees E, every 6 hours.

This dataset was produced under Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) project 'STORMY-WEATHER: Plausible storm hazards in a future climate' (grant reference: NE/V004166/1).

Citable as:  Catto, J.; Dowdy, A. (2026): Cyclones, fronts, thunderstorms, and their concurrence: Seven categories of European storm type identified in ECMWF ERA5 over the North Atlantic region. NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, date of citation. https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/ad93d6625d4e4124bb136dbb91b78091

Abbreviation: Not defined
Keywords: Storm types, Cyclone, Front, Thunderstorm, Europe

Details

Previous Info:
No news update for this record
Previously used record identifiers:
No related previous identifiers.
Access rules:
Public data: access to these data is available to both registered and non-registered users.
Use of these data is covered by the following licence(s):
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
When using these data you must cite them correctly using the citation given on the CEDA Data Catalogue record.
Data lineage:

The cyclones and fronts are identified using updated versions of the algorithms described in Catto and Dowdy (2021), specifically the front identification of Sansom and Catto (2023). The thunderstorm data is calculated using a proxy described in Dowdy (2022).

Data Quality:
The data suppliers have not indicated if any quality control has been undertaken on these data.
File Format:
Contact support@ceda.ac.uk for file format information.

Process overview

This dataset was generated by the computation detailed below.
Title

STORMY-WEATHER storm type methodology

Abstract

The seven STORMY-WEATHER storm types were identified using updated versions of the algorithms described in Catto and Dowdy (2021), specifically the front identification of Sansom and Catto (2023). The thunderstorm data is calculated using a proxy described in Dowdy (2022). See links to publications below.

Input Description

None

Output Description

None

Software Reference

None

  • var_id: storm_type
  • long_name: Storm type

Co-ordinate Variables

  • units: degrees_north
  • standard_name: latitude
  • var_id: latitude
  • long_name: Latitude
  • units: degrees_east
  • standard_name: longitude
  • var_id: longitude
  • long_name: Longitude
  • standard_name: time
  • var_id: time
  • long_name: Time
  • units: hours
Coverage
Temporal Range
Start time:
1980-01-01T00:00:00
End time:
2018-12-31T00:00:00
Geographic Extent

 
69.2500°
 
45.0000°
 
45.0000°
 
20.7500°
 
Related parties
Funders (1)
Principal Investigators (1)
Co-Investigators (1)