 The last major volcanic eruptions were associated with cooling of the troposphere over large continental areas and oceans, while El Nino conditions increased temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific. Decadal simulations of the EC Earth model, initialized with climate observations and forced with an estimate of volcanic aerosol optical thickness, reproduced this pattern. The main source of skill in the first two years is initialization, but after that, the contribution of volcanic forcing becomes substantial in certain regions. Two simple protocols for real-time forecasting are investigated, using past volcanic eruption forcing to simulate new ones and applying a two-year exponential decay to initial stratospheric aerosol loads. The second protocol allows partial reproduction of the skill attained with observed forcing in retrospective forecasts. This article was authored by M. M. Menegos, Uppelbauer, O. Belpratt, and others.