Chapter 6 Cyclones in the Mediterranean region: Climatology and effects on the environment

Lionello, Piero; Bhend, Jonas; Buzzi, A.; Della-Marta, Paul M.; Krichak, S. O.; Jansà, A.; Maheras, P.; Sanna, Antonella; Trigo, Isabel F.; Trigo, Ricardo M.

doi:10.1016/s1571-9197(06)80009-1

Cited by 170 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…1) usually includes the continental areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, southern Europe , northern Africa and the Middle East (e.g., Lionello et al, 2006a;Mehta and Yang, 2008). The region is characterized by a highly complex land-sea distribution, which affects the atmospheric circulation over it, and by the presence of the Mediterranean sea, which acts as source of moisture and energy for the development of cyclones (Lionello et al, 2006b;Ulbrich et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A report (based on 10 yr of data) prepared by the Munich Reinsurance Company collects 166 cases of heavy rainfall and floods with over 1900 deaths and over 6000 M Euro economic losses (Lionello et al, 2006b). The Programme of Natural Hazards of the Spanish Directorate of Civil Defence reported 155 deaths by heavy rain and flood events (Jansa et al, 2001a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Synoptic climatology of winter intense precipitation events along the Mediterranean coasts

Reale

Lionello

2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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The link between winter (December-January-\ud February) precipitation events at 15 Mediterranean coastal\ud locations and synoptic features (cyclones and Northern\ud Hemisphere teleconnection patterns) is analyzed. A list of\ud precipitation events has been produced; q percentile thresholds\ud (Thq ) and corresponding frequency Nq (for q equal to\ud 25, 50, 90 and 98) have been considered. A negative trend\ud has been detected in total precipitation and N50 at many locations,\ud while no significant trend in N25 , N90 and N98 has\ud been found. The negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation\ud (NAO) and the East Atlantic/West Russia pattern\ud (EAWR) compete for exerting the largest influence on the\ud frequency of the 25th, 50th and 90th percentiles, with EAWR\ud and NAO exerting their largest influence in the central and\ud western Mediterranean areas, respectively. All percentiles\ud show a similar behavior except for the 98th percentile, which\ud shows no convincing link to any teleconnection pattern. The\ud cyclone tracks that are associated with precipitation events\ud have been selected using the ERA-40 reanalysis data, and\ud a strong link between intense precipitation and cyclones is\ud shown for all stations. In general, the probability of detecting\ud a cyclone within a distance of 20 from each station increases\ud with the intensity of the precipitation event and decreases\ud with the duration of a dry period. The origin and track\ud of cyclones producing intense precipitation differ among different\ud areas. When precipitation occurs in the northwestern\ud Mediterranean, cyclones are generally either of Atlantic origin\ud or secondary cyclones associated with the passage of major\ud cyclones north of the Mediterranean Basin, while they\ud are mostly generated inside the region itself for events at\ud the eastern Mediterranean coast. An important fraction of intense events in the southern areas is produced by cyclones\ud that are generated over northern Africa. The analysis of sea\ud level pressure and geopotential height at 500 hPa highlights\ud the important role of cyclone depth, circulation strength, surrounding\ud synoptic condition, and of slow speed of the cyclone\ud center for producing intense precipitation events

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synoptic climatology of winter intense precipitation events along the Mediterranean coasts

Reale

Lionello

2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Heavy rainfall events are characterized by mesoscale systems generating large precipitation totals that could persist for several days. The synoptic patterns leading to these events are generally well known, but the intensity and the stationarity of these systems are mainly controlled by various mesoscale factors, including the Mediterranean Sea, the surrounding mountains, cooling beneath the convection due to precipitation evaporation, low-level wind convergence and moisture transport Lionello et al, 2006;Nuissier et al, 2008). Most often, a moderate to intense low-level offshore jet, which is a governing-factor in the air-sea energy exchanges, characterizes the meteorological environment of these events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two‐way one‐dimensional high‐resolution air–sea coupled modelling applied to Mediterranean heavy rain events

Brossier

Ducrocq

Giordani

2008

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

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South-eastern France is prone to heavy rain events during the autumn. For these extreme precipitation events, the Mediterranean Sea fuels the atmospheric boundary layer in heat and moisture and sometimes contributes to flooding, owing to the large swell and waves produced in these situations. The aim of this study is to examine how the severe atmospheric conditions over the sea associated with these events alter the ocean mixed layer, and what feedback the ocean contributes to the precipitation events.To address these questions, a high-resolution air-sea coupled system is developed between the atmospheric MESO-NH model and a one-dimensional ocean model. It is applied for short range (24 h) and high-resolution (2-3 km) simulations of three representative torrential rainfall events: 12-13 November 1999 (Aude case), 8-9 September 2002 (Gard case) and 3 December 2003 (Hérault case). In those meteorological situations characterized by moderate to intense low-level winds, the Mediterranean Sea globally loses energy, to the benefit of the convective precipitating systems. The result is an overall decrease of the thermal content all along the simulation of the events. Significant cooling and deepening of the ocean mixed layer are found in the areas of intense low-level winds. A notable result of the study concerns the impact of the torrential rainfall on the ocean mixed layer. The most important disturbances of the ocean mixed layer are indeed found underneath the heavy precipitation. The salt content is decreased all along the ocean mixed layer depth, but more significantly in the first ten metres near the air-sea interface, with the formation of a salt barrier.By performing both two-way and one-way coupled simulations, it is found that the interactive coupling tends to moderate both the atmospheric and ocean responses compared with the one-way mode. The differences between the two-way and one-way coupled simulations are, however, found to be relatively small considering the atmospheric short-range forecast.

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“…Several studies analyzing the important role of synoptic forcing on the generation of extreme precipitation over the MR have been previously conducted, (e.g., Lionello et al, 2006;Ulbrich et al, 2012;Xoplaki et al, 2012;Lionello, 2012). The typical components leading to heavy rainfall are an unstable air mass, a moist low-level jet, the presence of orography orthogonal to the flow, and a slowly evolving cyclonic synoptic pattern (Doswell III, 1998;Miglietta and Rotuno, 2010).…”

Section: Synoptic Circulation Patterns That Induce Heavy Rainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review Article: Atmospheric conditions inducing extreme precipitation over the eastern and western Mediterranean

Dayan

Nissen

Ulbrich

2015

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

100

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Abstract. This review discusses published studies of heavy rainfall events over the Mediterranean Basin, combining them in a more general picture of the dynamic and thermodynamic factors and processes that produce heavy rain storms. It distinguishes the western and eastern Mediterranean in order to point out specific regional peculiarities. The crucial moisture for developing intensive convection over these regions can be originated not only from the adjacent Mediterranean Sea but also from distant upwind sources. Transport from remote sources is usually in the mid-tropospheric layers and associated with specific features and patterns of the larger-scale circulations. The synoptic systems (tropical and extratropical) that account for most of the major extreme precipitation events and the coupling of circulation and extreme rainfall patterns are presented. Heavy rainfall over the Mediterranean Basin is caused at times in concert by several atmospheric processes working at different atmospheric scales, such as local convection, upper synoptic-scale-level troughs, and mesoscale convective systems. Under tropical air-mass intrusions, convection generated by static instability seems to play a more important role than synoptic-scale vertical motions. Locally, the occurrence of torrential rains and their intensity is dependent on factors such as temperature profiles and implied instability, atmospheric moisture, and lower-level convergence.

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Chapter 6 Cyclones in the Mediterranean region: Climatology and effects on the environment

Cited by 170 publications

References 80 publications

Synoptic climatology of winter intense precipitation events along the Mediterranean coasts

Synoptic climatology of winter intense precipitation events along the Mediterranean coasts

Two‐way one‐dimensional high‐resolution air–sea coupled modelling applied to Mediterranean heavy rain events

Review Article: Atmospheric conditions inducing extreme precipitation over the eastern and western Mediterranean

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