Numerical modelling of heavy precipitation events over Eastern Pyrenees: Analysis of orographic effects

Trapero, Laura; Bech, Joan; Lorente, J.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.09.014

Cited by 44 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the low and favourably oriented orography of the French side of the Pyrenees also enables the easy entrance of Atlantic air masses, especially affecting elevated areas of the northern half of Andorra. Localized intense rainfall events triggered by diurnal forcing mainly in the summer also occur, such as the 1 August 2008 thunderstorm , but in general orographic factors have been found to be instrumental in previous cases studied (Trapero et al, 2013). In summary, the Andorran area can be considered an interesting crossroad of climates (Atlantic and Mediterranean) and meteorological phenomena.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesoscale numerical analysis of the historical November 1982 heavy precipitation event over Andorra (Eastern Pyrenees)

Trapero

Bech

Duffourg

et al. 2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. From 6 to 8 November 1982 one of the most catastrophic flash-flood events was recorded in the EasternPyrenees affecting Andorra and also France and Spain with rainfall accumulations exceeding 400 mm in 24 h, 44 fatalities and widespread damage. This paper aims to exhaustively document this heavy precipitation event and examines mesoscale simulations performed by the French Meso-NH non-hydrostatic atmospheric model. Large-scale simulations show the slow-evolving synoptic environment favourable for the development of a deep Atlantic cyclone which induced a strong southerly flow over the Eastern Pyrenees. From the evolution of the synoptic pattern four distinct phases have been identified during the event. The mesoscale analysis presents the second and the third phase as the most intense in terms of rainfall accumulations and highlights the interaction of the moist and conditionally unstable flows with the mountains. The presence of a SW low level jet (30 m s −1 ) around 1500 m also had a crucial role on focusing the precipitation over the exposed south slopes of the Eastern Pyrenees. Backward trajectories based on Eulerian on-line passive tracers indicate that the orographic uplift was the main forcing mechanism which triggered and maintained the precipitating systems more than 30 h over the Pyrenees. The moisture of the feeding flow mainly came from the Atlantic Ocean (7-9 g kg −1 ) and the role of the Mediterranean as a local moisture source was very limited (2-3 g kg −1 ) due to the high initial water vapour content of the parcels and the rapid passage over the basin along the Spanish Mediterranean coast (less than 12 h).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesoscale numerical analysis of the historical November 1982 heavy precipitation event over Andorra (Eastern Pyrenees)

Trapero

Bech

Duffourg

et al. 2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…It is a singular basin due to its orographic configuration which predisposes the formation of cold air pools, mountain gravity waves and enhanced precipitation (Trapero et al, 2013, Miró et al, 2018.…”

Section: 5mentioning

confidence: 99%

10th European Conference on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology (ERAD 2018) : 1-6 July 2018, Ede-Wageningen, The Netherlands

Vos¹,

Leijnse²,

Uijlenhoet³

2018

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“…To our knowledge this is still to be tested. In the absence of this information, we decided to use the settings shown on Table 2, based on information from previous work in the region and other mountain areas using the WRF model [56][57][58]. For a detailed description of the settings see the WRF User's Guide [59].…”

Section: Atmospheric Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis and Predictability of the Hydrological Response of Mountain Catchments to Heavy Rain on Snow Events: A Case Study in the Spanish Pyrenees

Corripio¹,

López‐Moreno

2017

Hydrology

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From 18 to 19 June 2013, the Ésera river in the Pyrenees, Northern Spain, caused widespread damage due to flooding as a result of torrential rains and sustained snowmelt. We estimate the contribution of snow melt to total discharge applying a snow energy balance to the catchment. Precipitation is derived from sparse local measurements and the WRF-ARW model over three nested domains, down to a grid cell size of 2 km. Temperature profiles, precipitation and precipitation gradient are well simulated, although with a possible displacement regarding the observations. Snowpack melting was correctly reproduced and verified in three instrumented sites, and according to satellite images. We found that the hydrological simulations agree well with measured discharge. Snowmelt represented 33% of total runoff during the main flood event and 23% at peak flow. The snow energy balance model indicates that most of the energy for snow melt during the day of maximum precipitation came from turbulent fluxes. This approach forecast correctly peak flow and discharge during normal conditions at least 24 h in advance and could give an early warning of the extreme event 2.5 days before.

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Numerical modelling of heavy precipitation events over Eastern Pyrenees: Analysis of orographic effects

Cited by 44 publications

References 25 publications

Mesoscale numerical analysis of the historical November 1982 heavy precipitation event over Andorra (Eastern Pyrenees)

Mesoscale numerical analysis of the historical November 1982 heavy precipitation event over Andorra (Eastern Pyrenees)

10th European Conference on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology (ERAD 2018) : 1-6 July 2018, Ede-Wageningen, The Netherlands

Analysis and Predictability of the Hydrological Response of Mountain Catchments to Heavy Rain on Snow Events: A Case Study in the Spanish Pyrenees

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