Large-scale atmospheric patterns associated with mesoscale features leading to extreme precipitation events in Northwestern Italy

Rudari, Roberto; Entekhabi, Dara; Roth, Giorgio

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2004.10.017

Cited by 52 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…These systems can interact with regional topography and produce localized extreme precipitation (Rudari et al, 2005;Pinto et al, 2013), inducing severe river floods. In the upper troposphere over the Euro-Atlantic region, the westerly flow is characterized by two jets: the Atlantic jet, which crosses the ocean with a northeasterly trajectory, and the African jet, which flows above the coast of North Africa.…”

Section: Local or Global?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Floods and climate: emerging perspectives for flood risk assessment and management

Merz

Aerts

Arnbjerg‐Nielsen

et al. 2014

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

298

165

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Abstract. Flood estimation and flood management have traditionally been the domain of hydrologists, water resources engineers and statisticians, and disciplinary approaches abound. Dominant views have been shaped; one example is the catchment perspective: floods are formed and influenced by the interaction of local, catchment-specific characteristics, such as meteorology, topography and geology. These traditional views have been beneficial, but they have a narrow framing. In this paper we contrast traditional views with broader perspectives that are emerging from an improved understanding of the climatic context of floods. We come to the following conclusions: (1) extending the traditional system boundaries (local catchment, recent decades, hydrological/hydraulic processes) opens up exciting possibilities for better understanding and improved tools for flood risk assessment and management. (2) Statistical approaches in flood estimation need to be complemented by the search for the causal mechanisms and dominant processes in the Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. B. Merz et al.: Floods and climate: emerging perspectives for flood risk assessment and managementatmosphere, catchment and river system that leave their fingerprints on flood characteristics. (3) Natural climate variability leads to time-varying flood characteristics, and this variation may be partially quantifiable and predictable, with the perspective of dynamic, climate-informed flood risk management. (4) Efforts are needed to fully account for factors that contribute to changes in all three risk components (hazard, exposure, vulnerability) and to better understand the interactions between society and floods. (5) Given the global scale and societal importance, we call for the organization of an international multidisciplinary collaboration and datasharing initiative to further understand the links between climate and flooding and to advance flood research.

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Section: Local or Global?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Floods and climate: emerging perspectives for flood risk assessment and management

Merz

Aerts

Arnbjerg‐Nielsen

et al. 2014

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

298

165

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Generally, these intrusions adopt the form of narrow (;500 km), deep (;4 km), and meridionally elongated (;2000 km) filaments of stratospheric air, termed PV streamers (Appenzeller and Davies 1992), and reach from the British Isles southward to the Iberian Peninsula. These PV structures are reflected in geopotential troughs located over western Europe (e.g., Jacobeit 1987;Rudari et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the Forcing Mechanisms of a Heavy Precipitation Event along the Alpine South Side Using Potential Vorticity Inversion

Schlemmer

Martius

Sprenger

et al. 2010

Monthly Weather Review

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Extreme precipitation events along the Alpine south side (AS) are often forced by upper-level positive potential vorticity (PV) anomalies over western Europe. These so-called PV streamers go along with a dynamical forcing for upward motion, a reduction of the static stability in the troposphere (hence facilitating convection), and are associated with low-level winds that transport moisture toward the Alps.A case of heavy precipitation is examined using the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis data. Piecewise PV inversion (PPVI) and the limited-area Climate High Resolution Model (CHRM) are used to assess the influences of mesoscale parts of the streamer on the precipitation event. The impacts on the vertical stability are quantified by the convective available potential energy (CAPE) and an index of static stability. Very sensitive areas in terms of the stability are located beneath the southern tip of the streamer; smaller changes in the stability are observed in the Alpine region.The moisture transport toward the Alps is sensitive to the amplitude of the streamer, which influences the amount of water that can be transported along its eastern flank.The impacts of the topography on the flow are assessed by calculating an average inverse Froude number. Whether or not the air parcels are blocked by or lifted over the barrier (going along with suppressed and enhanced precipitation, respectively) depends on the vertical stability and the impinging wind velocity, two parameters that are inherently linked to the PV streamer and its substructure.

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“…Jansa et al (2000) pointed out the frequent formation of lee depressions and troughs over the warm and humid air that fills this part of the basin. The combination of strong synoptic-scale forcing and the contributing topographic features makes the WM prone to heavy rains caused by MCSs embedded in synoptic-scale systems as confirmed by Rudari et al (2005) by means of a large ensemble of heavy rainfall events and composite statistics. The examination of four heavy rainfall events that occurred in the coastal area of northeastern Italy, a region fringed by the Alpine barrier to the north of the Adriatic Sea, revealed that synoptic rather than convective settings controlled the observed timescales of these intense rainfall events.…”

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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Large-scale atmospheric patterns associated with mesoscale features leading to extreme precipitation events in Northwestern Italy

Cited by 52 publications

References 30 publications

Floods and climate: emerging perspectives for flood risk assessment and management

Floods and climate: emerging perspectives for flood risk assessment and management

Disentangling the Forcing Mechanisms of a Heavy Precipitation Event along the Alpine South Side Using Potential Vorticity Inversion

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

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