scholarly journals An observational and numerical study of a flash-flood event over south-eastern Italy

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1417-1430 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Miglietta ◽  
A. Regano

Abstract. A flash-flood episode affecting a small area in Apulia (south-eastern Italy) on 22 October 2005 is documented. A rainfall amount of 160 mm was recorded in a 6 h interval in the central part of the region, producing severe damage and causing six fatalities. Synoptic maps, observations from surface stations and remote-sensing data are used here to describe the evolution of the rainfall system. The vertical profiles show features similar to those observed in other orographic heavy-rain events, such as a low-level jet, a conditionally unstable environment, and a nearly saturated warm low-level air mass. The low hills in the centre of the region play an important role in the release of the instability and the localisation of the rainfall, providing the uplift necessary to the air parcels to reach the level of free convection. Numerical simulations are performed in order to understand the mechanisms responsible for the heavy rain event. The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) is setup in a 2-way nesting configuration including two domains. The model is able to realistically simulate the evolution of the precipitation system and to capture fairly well the localisation, the amount and the timing of the rainfall. The simulations suggest the important synergy of low and upper-tropospheric features which act as the triggering mechanism for the development of convection. A sensitivity experiment confirms the importance of the orography for the development of convective cells.

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan E. Lyman ◽  
Thomas A. Schroeder ◽  
Gary M. Barnes

Abstract On 29 October 2000, the Hana region of Maui received 700 mm of rain in 7 h. Radar analyses revealed that the storm consisted of seven cells that were initiated along the southeast slope of Haleakala volcano. One of these cells survived for nearly 4 h and was responsible for 80% of the volumetric rainout from the storm. The interaction of low-level flow distorted by the island of Hawaii located farther east, the passage of a trough, and the topographic forcing caused by Haleakala volcano were major factors responsible for the evolution of the storm.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 2767-2790 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nagao ◽  
M. Kanamori ◽  
S. Ochiai ◽  
S. Tomihara ◽  
K. Fukushi ◽  
...  

Abstract. Effects of a heavy rain event on radiocesium export were studied at stations on the Natsui River and the Same River in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan after Typhoon Roke during 21–22 September 2011, six months after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Radioactivity of 134Cs and 137Cs in river waters was 0.011–0.098 Bq L−1 at normal flow conditions during July–September in 2011, but it increased to 0.85 Bq L−1 in high flow conditions by heavy rains occurring with the typhoon. The particulate fractions of 134Cs and 137Cs were 21–56% in the normal flow condition, but were close to 100% after the typhoon. These results indicate that the pulse input of radiocesium associated with suspended particles from land to coastal ocean occurred by the heavy rain event. Export flux of 134Cs and 137Cs by the heavy rain accounts for 30–50% of annual radiocesium flux in 2011. Results show that rain events are one factor controlling the transport and dispersion of radiocesium in river watersheds and coastal marine environments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 2092-2099
Author(s):  
K. Doederer ◽  
Z. Ilieva ◽  
J. Keller

Abstract During disinfection, dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the major precursor to form disinfection by-products (DBPs), which may be of potential human health concern. Previous research focused on waters of continental climates and less on subtropical environments. However, water sources in subtropical climates are regularly impacted by major rain events during the summer months. This study evaluated the C- and N-DBP precursor removal capacity of two conventional ion exchange (IEX) resins and one magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) resin with a raw water at normal conditions and impacted by a heavy rain event. The rain event introduced 3 mg C/L total organic carbon (TOC) comprised mainly of low to medium molecular weight organics. All three resins were able to remove TOC and DBP precursors (>66%) but being less efficient in reducing turbidity (3–48%) and colour (9–24%). The resin with the smallest bead size was affected the most by the increased medium MW DOM loading resulting in DOM and C-DBP precursor removal performance losses of 10% and 22%. When applied as a pre-treatment for coagulation, MIEX was more efficient in DBP precursor control than coagulation in addressing the additional organic and DBP precursor loading after a heavy rain event.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1677-1693 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pastor ◽  
J. A. Valiente ◽  
M. J. Estrela

Abstract. Heavy rain events are frequently recorded in the Western Mediterranean causing economic losses and even human casualties. The Western Mediterranean is a deep and almost closed sea surrounded by high mountain ranges and with little exchange of water with the Atlantic ocean. A main factor in the development of torrential rains is ocean-atmosphere exchanges of heat and moisture that can potentially destabilize air masses travelling over the sea. The study of air mass trajectories previous to the rain event permits the identification of sea areas that could probably contribute to the development or intensification of rainfall. From a previous Mediterranean sea surface temperature climatology, its spatio-temporal distribution patterns have been studied showing two main distribution modes in winter and summer and transitional regimes in spring and autumn. Hence, three heavy precipitation events, for such winter and summer sea temperature regimes and for fall transition, affecting the Valencia region have been selected to study the effect of sea surface temperature in torrential rains. Simulations with perturbed sea surface temperature in different areas along the air mass path were run to compare results with unperturbed simulation. The variation of sea surface temperature in certain areas caused significant changes in model accumulated values and its spatial distribution. Therefore, the existence of areas that at a greater extent favour air-sea interaction leading to the development of torrential rainfall in the Valencia region has been shown. This methodology could be extended to the whole Mediterranean basin to look for such potential recharge areas. The identification of sea areas that contribute to the development or intensification of heavy rain events in the Mediterranean countries could be a useful prognosis and/or monitoring tool.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2939-2969
Author(s):  
M. Tudor ◽  
I. Janeković

Abstract. The south-eastern parts of the Adriatic Sea coastline were severely polluted by large amounts of accumulated waste material in the second half of November 2010. The waste, reported by major news agencies, accumulated dominantly during 21 November 2010 by favourable wind – ocean current transport system. In the study we analysed meteorological and oceanographic conditions that lead to the waste deposition using available in situ measurements, remote sensing data as well numerical models of the ocean and the atmosphere. The measured data reveal that an intensive rainfall event from 7 till 10 November 2010, over the parts of Montenegro and Albania, was followed by a substantial increase of the river water levels indicating flash floods that possibly splashed the waste material into a river and after to the Adriatic Sea. In order to test our hypothesis we set a number of numerical drifter experiments with trajectories initiated off the coast of Albania during the intensive rainfall events following their faith in space and time. One of the numerical drifter trajectory experiment resulted with drifters reached right position (south-eastern Adriatic coast) and time (exactly by the time the waste was observed) when initiated on 00:00 and 12:00 UTC of 10 November 2010 during the mentioned flash flood event.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takahiro Sayama ◽  
Masafumi Yamada ◽  
Yoshito Sugawara ◽  
Dai Yamazaki

Abstract The heavy rain event of July 2018 and Typhoon Hagibis in October 2019 caused severe flash flood disasters in numerous parts of western and eastern Japan. Flash floods need to be predicted over a wide range with long forecasting lead time for effective evacuation. The predictability of flash floods caused by the two extreme events are investigated by using a high-resolution (~150 m) nationwide distributed rainfall-runoff model forced by ensemble precipitation forecasts with 39-h lead time. Results of the deterministic simulation at nowcasting mode with radar and gauge composite rainfall could reasonably simulate the storm runoff hydrographs at many dam reservoirs over western Japan for the case of heavy rainfall in 2018 (F18) with the default parameter setting. For the case of Typhoon Hagibis in 2019 (T19), a similar performance was obtained by incorporating unsaturated flow effect in the model applied to Kanto region. The performance of the ensemble forecast was evaluated based on the bias ratios and the relative operating characteristic curves, which suggested the higher predictability in peak runoff for T19. For the F18, the uncertainty arises due to the difficulty in accurately forecasting the storm positions by the frontal zone; as a result, the actual distribution of the peak runoff could not be well forecasted. Overall, this study showed that the predictability of flash floods was different between the two extreme events. The ensemble spreads contain quantitative information of predictive uncertainty, which can be utilized for the decision making of emergency responses against flash floods.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Fara Diva Claudia ◽  
Cecylia Putri Mawarni ◽  
Kadek Krisna Yulianti ◽  
Paulus Agus Winarso

<p class="Abstract">On October 10, 2018 there has been extreme weather in the form of heavy rain accompanied by lightning in Tanah Datar District, West Sumatra. This extreme weather caused flash floods and landslides that killed many people. Therefore, by using remote sensing data in the form of radar and satellite as well as WRF modeling (Weather Research and Forecasting) the authors conducted analysis of heavy rainfall events to determine the estimated rainfall and atmospheric dynamics during the occurrence of flash floods and landslides. WRF modeling is used to determine the condition of atmospheric lability. For the calculation of rainfall estimation, the method used is the Convective Stratiform Technique (CST) method that utilizes satellite data and the Z-R relation selection method that utilizes radar data. Then the calculation results from each method are verified using observation data. Relative bias shows the CST method and the selection of Z-R relations tend to be overestimate, but has a very high correlation value with observation data. Information on rainfall estimation and atmospheric dynamics is expected to be used to provide early warnings aimed at minimizing losses from the impact of disasters.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-156
Author(s):  
Nur Habib Muzaki ◽  

The phenomenon of extreme weather, heavy rain and strong winds hit four sub-districts in Probolinggo Regency, East Java on January 3, 2020 at 17.00 WIB. Based on data from the East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the incidence of heavy rain and strong winds resulted in damage to as many as 204 houses. This study uses remote sensing data in the form of C-Band Radar and Himawari-8 Satellite and Copernicus ECMWF renalysis data. The data is processed into spatial maps and graphs which are then analyzed descriptively. The results of data analysis show that the reflectivity value reaches 43 dBZ and the wind speed reaches 13.57 m / s with a rainfall of 15.83 mm / hour at 10.00 WIB. Based on the analysis of the Himawari-8 Satellite, the peak temperature of the clouds reached -73.1 oC and the atmospheric lability data showed that the atmosphere was unstable, which could indicate the possibility of heavy rain and strong winds. The value of vortices in the 1000 mb - 500 mb layer is negative and the humidity value ranges from 85% - 90% and a positive sea surface temperature anomaly value and the presence of windshields result in convergence of air masses which can support convective cloud growth as the cause of heavy rain events and strong winds in Probolinggo Regency, East Java


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1331-1345 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pastor ◽  
I. Gómez ◽  
M. J. Estrela

Abstract. A torrential rain event took place in the Valencia region in October 2007, mainly affecting coastal areas and nearby mountains in the center-south of the region, in northern Alicante province. More than 400 mm in 24 h were recorded at some stations in these areas, with lower accumulations in the rest of the region where rainfall was less intense. In the first part of this work a description of the meteorological situation is given. The synoptic frame of the event is characterised by an advection of easterly maritime winds across the Western Mediterranean, lasting for at least 48 h, driving moist air towards the Iberian Peninsula eastern coast and the presence of an upper level isolated low over Eastern Iberian Peninsula. Then, the results of numerical simulations using the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System model are shown to study the rain event in detail. The Regional Atmospheric Modelling System reproduces satisfactorily the spatial distribution of the rainfall and the rain period, but it underestimates precipitation in the areas with the most intense values. Finally, a sensitivity test was performed in order to evaluate the role of orography in the rain event, showing the importance of orography as a triggering mechanism.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1357-1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pastor ◽  
J. A. Valiente ◽  
M. J. Estrela

Abstract. Heavy rain events are frequently recorded in the Western Mediterranean causing economic losses and even human casualties. The Western Mediterranean is a deep and almost closed sea surrounded by high mountain ranges and with little exchange of water with the Atlantic ocean. A main factor in the development of torrential rains are ocean-atmosphere exchanges of heat and moisture that can potentially destabilize air masses travelling over the sea. The study of air mass trajectories previous to the rain event permits the identification of sea areas that could probably contribute to the development or intensification of rainfall. From a previous Mediterranean sea surface temperature climatology, its spatio-temporal distribution patterns have been studied showing two main distribution modes in winter and summer and transitional regimes in spring and autumn. Hence, three heavy precipitation events, for such winter and summer sea temperature regimes and for fall transition, affecting the Valencia region have been selected to study the effect of sea surface temperature in torrential rains. Simulations with perturbed sea surface temperature in different areas along the air mass path were run to compare results with unperturbed simulation. The variation of sea surface temperature in certain areas caused significant changes in model accumulated values and its spatial distribution. Therefore, the existence of recharge areas where air–sea interaction favors the development of torrential rainfall in Valencia region has been shown. This methodology could be extended to the whole Mediterranean basin to look for such potential recharge areas. The identification of sea areas that contribute to the development or intensification of heavy rain events in the Mediterranean countries could be a useful prognosis and/or monitoring tool.


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