Atmospheric conditions associated with heavy precipitation events in comparison to seasonal means in the western mediterranean region

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 951-967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samiro Khodayar ◽  
Norbert Kalthoff ◽  
Christoph Kottmeier
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Precipitation Events

scholarly journals Mesoscale Model Simulations of Three Heavy Precipitation Events in the Western Mediterranean Region

1998 ◽  
Vol 126 (7) ◽  
pp. 1859-1881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romualdo Romero ◽  
Clemente Ramis ◽  
Sergio Alonso ◽  
Charles A. Doswell ◽  
David J. Stensrud
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Mesoscale Model ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Precipitation Events

Potential of Arabic documentary sources for reconstructing past climate in the western Mediterranean region from AD 680 to 1815

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110332
Author(s):  
Yassin Meklach ◽  
Chantal Camenisch ◽  
Abderrahmane Merzouki ◽  
Ricardo Garcia Herrera
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
Drought Conditions ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Climate Proxies

Archival records and historical documents offer direct observation of weather and atmospheric conditions and have the highest temporal and spatial resolution, and precise dating, of the available climate proxies. They also provide information about variables such as temperature, precipitation and climate extremes, as well as floods, droughts and storms. The present work studied Arab-Islamic documentary sources covering the western Mediterranean region (documents written by Arab-Islamic historians that narrate social, political and religious history) available for the period AD 680–1815. They mostly provide information on hydrometeorological events. In Iberia the most intense droughts were reported during AD 747–753, AD 814–822, AD 846–847, AD 867–874 and AD 914–915 and in the Maghreb AD 867–873, AD 898–915, AD 1104–1147, AD 1280–1340 and AD 1720–1815 had prevalent drought conditions. Intense rain episodes are also reported.

Heavy precipitation events over the Euro-Mediterranean region in a warmer climate: results from CMIP5 models

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 595-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Scoccimarro ◽  
Silvio Gualdi ◽  
Alessio Bellucci ◽  
Matteo Zampieri ◽  
Antonio Navarra
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Precipitation Events

scholarly journals Influence of submonthly air-sea coupling on heavy precipitation events in the Western Mediterranean basin

2016 ◽  
Vol 142 ◽  
pp. 453-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ségolène Berthou ◽  
Sylvain Mailler ◽  
Philippe Drobinski ◽  
Thomas Arsouze ◽  
Sophie Bastin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Western Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Precipitation Events

scholarly journals Climatology of Vb-cyclones, physical mechanisms and their impact on extreme precipitation over Central Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 907-941
Author(s):  
M. Messmer ◽  
J. J. Gómez-Navarro ◽  
C. C. Raible
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Detection And Tracking ◽  
The Alps ◽  
Precipitation Events ◽  
Thermodynamic Processes

Abstract. Cyclones, which develop over the western Mediterranean and move northeastward are a major source of extreme weather and known to be responsible for heavy precipitation over Central Europe and the Alps. As the relevant processes triggering these so-called Vb-events and their impact on extreme precipitation are not yet fully understood, this study focusses on gaining insight into the dynamics of past events. For this, a cyclone detection and tracking tool is applied to the ERA-Interim reanalysis (1979–2013) to identify prominent Vb-situations. Precipitation in the ERA-Interim and the E-OBS datasets is used to evaluate case-to-case precipitation amounts and to assess consistency between the two datasets. Both datasets exhibit high variability in precipitation amounts among different Vb-events. While only 23 % of all Vb-events are associated with extreme precipitation, around 15 % of all extreme precipitation days (99 percentile) over the Alpine region are induced by Vb-events, although Vb-cyclones are rare events (2.3 per year). To obtain a better understanding of the variability within Vb-events, the analysis of the 10 heaviest and lowest precipitation Vb-events reveals noticeable differences in the state of the atmosphere. These differences are most pronounced in the geopotential height and potential vorticity field, indicating a much stronger cyclone for heavy precipitation events. The related differences in wind direction are responsible for the moisture transport around the Alps and the orographical lifting along the Alps. These effects are the main reasons for a disastrous outcome of Vb-events, and consequently are absent in the Vb-events associated with low precipitation. Hence, our results point out that heavy precipitation related to Vb-events is mainly related to large-scale dynamics rather than to thermodynamic processes.

scholarly journals An Analogue Approach to Identify Heavy Precipitation Events: Evaluation and Application to CMIP5 Climate Models in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (15) ◽  
pp. 5941-5963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Gao ◽  
C. Adam Schlosser ◽  
Pingping Xie ◽  
Erwan Monier ◽  
Dara Entekhabi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
South Central ◽  
Simulated Precipitation ◽  
Analogue Method ◽  
Precipitation Events

Abstract An analogue method is presented to detect the occurrence of heavy precipitation events without relying on modeled precipitation. The approach is based on using composites to identify distinct large-scale atmospheric conditions associated with widespread heavy precipitation events across local scales. These composites, exemplified in the south-central, midwestern, and western United States, are derived through the analysis of 27-yr (1979–2005) Climate Prediction Center (CPC) gridded station data and the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA). Circulation features and moisture plumes associated with heavy precipitation events are examined. The analogues are evaluated against the relevant daily meteorological fields from the MERRA reanalysis and achieve a success rate of around 80% in detecting observed heavy events within one or two days. The method also captures the observed interannual variations of seasonal heavy events with higher correlation and smaller RMSE than MERRA precipitation. When applied to the same 27-yr twentieth-century climate model simulations from Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), the analogue method produces a more consistent and less uncertain number of seasonal heavy precipitation events with observation as opposed to using model-simulated precipitation. The analogue method also performs better than model-based precipitation in characterizing the statistics (minimum, lower and upper quartile, median, and maximum) of year-to-year seasonal heavy precipitation days. These results indicate the capability of CMIP5 models to realistically simulate large-scale atmospheric conditions associated with widespread local-scale heavy precipitation events with a credible frequency. Overall, the presented analyses highlight the improved diagnoses of the analogue method against an evaluation that considers modeled precipitation alone to assess heavy precipitation frequency.

scholarly journals The Role of Moisture Pathways on Snowfall Amount and Distribution in the Payette Mountains of Idaho

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (5) ◽  
pp. 2033-2048
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Cann ◽  
K. Friedrich
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Central Valley ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Intermountain West ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Precipitation Events

Abstract The pathways air travels from the Pacific Ocean to the Intermountain West of the United States are important for understanding how air characteristics change and how this translates to the amount and distribution of snowfall. Recent studies have identified the most common moisture pathways in the Intermountain West, especially for heavy precipitation events. However, the role of moisture pathways on snowfall amount and distribution in specific regions remains unclear. Here, we investigate 24 precipitation events in the Payette Mountains of Idaho during January–March 2017 to understand how local atmospheric conditions are tied to three moisture pathways and how it impacts snowfall amount and distribution. During one pathway, southwesterly, moist, tropical air is directed into the Central Valley of California where the air is blocked by the Sierra Nevada, redirected northward and over lower terrain north of Lake Tahoe into the Snake River Plain of Idaho. Other pathways consist of unblocked flows that approach the coast of California from the southwest and then override the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades, and zonal flows approaching the coast of Oregon overriding the Oregon Cascades. Air masses in the Payette Mountains of Idaho associated with Sierra-blocked flow were observed to be warmer, moister, and windier compared to the other moisture pathways. During Sierra-blocked flow, higher snowfall rates, in terms of mean reflectivity, were observed more uniformly distributed throughout the region compared to the other flows, which observed lower snowfall rates that were predominantly collocated with areas of higher terrain. Of the total estimated snowfall captured in this study, 67% was observed during Sierra-blocked flow.

scholarly journals The sequence of heavy precipitation and flash flooding of 12 and 13 September 2019 in eastern Spain. Part I: Mesoscale diagnostic and sensitivity analysis of precipitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Hermoso ◽  
Victor Homar ◽  
Arnau Amengual
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Latent Heat Flux ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Moisture Distribution ◽  
Flash Flooding ◽  
The Mediterranean

AbstractThe Mediterranean region is frequently affected by heavy precipitation episodes and subsequent flash flooding. An exemplary case is the heavy precipitation episode that occurred in the regions of València, Murcia, and Almería (eastern Spain) on 12 and 13 September 2019. Observed rainfall amounts were close to 500 mm in 48 h, causing seven fatalities and estimated economical losses above 425 million EUR. This case exemplifies the challenging aspects of convective-scale forecasting in the Mediterranean region, with kilometer-resolution meteorological fields required over long forecast spans. Understanding the key mesoscale factors acting on the triggering, location, and intensity of the convective systems responsible for extreme accumulations is essential to gain insight into these episodes and contribute towards their accurate hydrometeorological forecasting. Mesoscale diagnosis suggests that local and distant orography, together with air-sea fluxes, were instrumental in developing convection and intensifying precipitation rate. Sensitivity experiments confirm the role of orography in organizing the cyclonic flow over the southeast part of the western Mediterranean, and also acting as a convection triggering mechanism. Furthermore, results highlight the role of latent heat flux from the Mediterranean Sea in enhancing convective instability at lower levels and moistening the environment. These moist feeding flows substantially contribute to increasing precipitation rates. Such high sensitivity to environmental moisture distribution naturally propagates to the sea surface temperature which, by means of sensible and latent heat flux exchanges, dominated the evolution of convective activity for the 12-13 September 2019 episode.

scholarly journals Twenty-First-Century Changes in U.S. Regional Heavy Precipitation Frequency Based on Resolved Atmospheric Patterns

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 2501-2521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Gao ◽  
C. Adam Schlosser ◽  
Paul A. O’Gorman ◽  
Erwan Monier ◽  
Dara Entekhabi
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
First Century ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Precipitation Frequency ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Precipitation Events

Precipitation-gauge observations and atmospheric reanalysis are combined to develop an analogue method for detecting heavy precipitation events based on prevailing large-scale atmospheric conditions. Combinations of atmospheric variables for circulation (geopotential height and wind vector) and moisture (surface specific humidity, column and up to 500-hPa precipitable water) are examined to construct analogue schemes for the winter [December–February (DJF)] of the “Pacific Coast California” (PCCA) region and the summer [June–August (JJA)] of the Midwestern United States (MWST). The detection diagnostics of analogue schemes are calibrated with 1979–2005 and validated with 2006–14 NASA Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA). All analogue schemes are found to significantly improve upon MERRA precipitation in characterizing the occurrence and interannual variations of observed heavy precipitation events in the MWST. When evaluated with the late twentieth-century climate model simulations from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), all analogue schemes produce model medians of heavy precipitation frequency that are more consistent with observations and have smaller intermodel discrepancies than model-based precipitation. Under the representative concentration pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, the CMIP5-based analogue schemes produce trends in heavy precipitation occurrence through the twenty-first century that are consistent with model-based precipitation, but with smaller intermodel disparity. The median trends in heavy precipitation frequency are positive for DJF over PCCA but are slightly negative for JJA over MWST. Overall, the analyses highlight the potential of the analogue as a powerful diagnostic tool for model deficiencies and its complementarity to an evaluation of heavy precipitation frequency based on model precipitation alone.

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