Model Explorer

The rain two ECMWF models expect over the whole world, on one frame — 180°W to 180°E, 60°S to 75°N — and one colour scale. ECMWF HRES is the physical high-resolution run, carried from its 00Z and 12Z cycles because those are the two that reach ten days. ECMWF AIFS is its machine-learned counterpart, started from the same analysis and published every six hours.

Total Precip is the rain accumulated since the run began — at the end of the timeline, the ten-day total a region is being promised. The scale is built for the dry end: its first six colours are inside 25 mm, because 5 mm against 20 mm is the difference between a dry spell continuing and breaking. Anything below half a millimetre is left clear, so dry ground shows as ground.

Switching model holds the valid time, not the forecast hour. For the total, that means both maps end at the same instant — but the two runs may have started six hours apart, so their totals cover slightly different windows.

This is a precipitation forecast, not a drought index. Soil moisture, evaporative demand and deficits against climatology are being built; until then, read a dry total against what is normal for the place and the season. Colour ramps are pinned to absolute values, and every pixel reads back — hover anywhere for the number.