Alongside the implementation, on 12 May 2026, of IFS cycle 50r1, and AIFS Single V2 and AIFS ENS V2, ECMWF has activated various changes to its products in ecCharts and OpenCharts. This page describes what those changes are.
ecCharts product updates
General notes
- Products from the 06 and 18 forecast runs will be available in ecCharts up to step 144 for all Control forecast products, as well as post processed ensemble products (such as probabilities, EFI&SOT etc).
- Whilst the AIFS ML model product range is being expanded, all layers and products from other ML models will be removed from ecCharts and Opencharts
IFS layers
- SST anomaly - will be using an ERA5 reference point (1991-2010) instead of ERA40
- (EXPERIMENTAL) Point rainfall layers (See below for details)
- (EXPERIMENTAL) First swell partition - Mean wave direction and height
- (EXPERIMENTAL) Second swell partition - Mean wave direction and height
- (EXPERIMENTAL) Third swell partition - Mean wave direction and height
AIFS single and AIFS ENS Control layers
- Snow coverage as percentage of a grid box
- Significant wave height
- Mean wave direction and height
- Significant wave height of all waves with period between 10 and 12 seconds
- Significant wave height of all waves with period between 12 and 14 seconds
- Significant wave height of all waves with period between 14 and 17 seconds
- Significant wave height of all waves with period between 17 and 21 seconds
- Significant wave height of all waves with period between 21 and 25 seconds
- Significant wave height of all waves with period between 25 and 30 seconds
AIFS ENS layers
- Hurricane strike probability
- Tropical cyclone strike probability
- Tropical storm strike probability
Point Rainfall (ecPoint) updates
The calibration has been comprehensively re-formulated for 50r1 to properly account for changes in the IFS model (notably the adjustments to its convection scheme). Initially the products offered for 50r1 will be:
Percentiles and Probabilities for points for:
6-hourly totals up to T+144 (non-overlapping periods ending: T+6,12,18,...) (new)
12-hourly totals up to T+246 (overlapping periods ending: T+12,18,24,...) (as for 49r1)
24-hourly totals up to T+360 (overlapping periods ending: T+24,36,48,...) (new)
For comprehensive further information there is a separate blog post.
Open Charts product updates
IFS products
- (EXPERIMENTAL) Point rainfall products: 3 different probability products, for 6h,12h,24h accumulation intervals. 100mm threshold added to the pre-existing list (1,5,10,25,50mm).
- (EXPERIMENTAL) Wave spectral partitions (wind waves and up to 3 swell partitions)
- (EXPERIMENTAL) Ocean wave spectra diagram
- SST and SST anomaly - will be using an ERA5 reference point (1991-2010) instead of ERA40 with 3h and 6h time steps
AIFS single and AIFS ENS Control and AIFS ENS products
- AIFS Single: Significant wave height and mean direction
- AIFS Single: Significant wave height of all waves with various periods
- AIFS ENS Control: Significant wave height and mean direction
- AIFS ENS Control: Significant wave height of all waves with various periods
- AIFS ENS: Tropical cyclone activity (Including genesis)