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The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) delivered its first operational medium-range weather forecast to its Member States on 1 August 1979. Substantial progress in medium-range weather forecasting has been made over the past 30 years. Nowadays, a forecast for five days ahead is of the same quality as a forecast for two days ahead in August 1979.

The forecast system introduced in 1979 was shown to be the best in the world and ECMWF has been in a leading position since then. The science behind weather forecast modelling is as important as advances in computer technology for the success of ECMWF. Through systematic model development, an increased use of satellites, observations from weather balloons, aircraft and surface stations, the ECMWF forecasting system continues to be the best in the world, to the benefit of the Centre’s Member States and Co-operating States.

ECMWF’s first supercomputer, a CRAY-1A, was a single processor computer with a memory of 8 Mbytes. In peak performance terms, the Centre’s current computer system (see photo) is almost two million times more powerful than the Cray-1A.

La multi ani ECMWF...sa ai prognoze tot mai exacte )