Abstract
The highest rainfall totals (912.2 mm) and the largest number of raindays (133 days), since 1958, were recorded in Thessaloniki during the year of 2014. Extreme precipitation heights were also observed on a seasonal, monthly and daily basis. The examined year presented the highest daily rainfall intensity, the maximum daily precipitation and the largest number of heavy precipitation days (greater than 10 mm), and it also exceeded the previous amounts of precipitation of very wet (95th percentile) and extremely wet (99th percentile) days. According to the automatic circulation type classification scheme that was used, it was found that during this exceptionally wet year, the frequency of occurrence of cyclonic types at the near surface geopotential level increases, while the same types decreased at a higher atmospheric level (500 hPa). The prevailing type was type C which is located at the centre of the study area (Greece), but several other cyclonic types changed during this year not only their frequency but also their percentage of rainfall as well as their daily precipitation intensity. It should be highlighted that these findings differentiated on the seasonal-scale analysis. Moreover, out of the three teleconnection patterns that were examined (Scandinavian Pattern, Eastern Mediterranean Teleconnection Pattern and North Sea-Caspian Pattern), the Scandinavian one (SCAND) was detected during the most of the months of 2014 meaning that it was highly associated with intense precipitation over Greece.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander LV, Zhang X, Peterson TC, Caesar J, Gleason B, Klein Tank AMG, Haylock M, Collins D, Trewin B, Rahimzadeh F, Tagipour A, Kumar KR, Revadekar J, Griffiths G, Vincent L, Stephenson DB, Burn J, Aguilar E, Brunet M, Taylor M, New M, Zhai P, Rusticucci M, Vazquez-Aguirre JL (2006) Global observed changes in daily climate extremes of temperature and precipitation. J Geophys Res-Atmos 111:D05109
Alpert P, Ben-Gai T, Baharad A, Benjamini Y, Yekutieli D, Colacino M, Diodato L, Ramis C, Homar V, Romero R, Michaelides S, Manes A (2002) The paradoxical increase of Mediterranean extreme daily rainfall in spite of decrease in total values. Geophys Res Lett 29(11):1536
Anagnostopoulou C, Tolika K (2012) Extreme precipitation in Europe: statistical threshold selection based on climatological criteria. Theor Appl Climatol 107:479–489
Anagostopoulou C, Tolika K, Maheras P (2009) Classification of circulation types: a new flexible automated approach applicable ot NCEP and GCM datasets. Theor Appl Climatol 96:3–15
Barnston AG, Livezey RC (1987) Classification, seasonality and persistence of low-frequency atmospheric circulation patterns. Mon Weather Rev 115:1083–1126
Begueria S, Vicente-Serrano SM, Lopez-Moreno JI, Garcia-Ruiz M (2009) Annual and seasonal mapping of peak intensity, magnitude and duration of extreme precipitation events across a climatic gradient, northeast Spain. Int J Climatol 29:1759–1779
Drobinski P, Alonzo B, Bastin S, Da Silva N, Muller C (2016) Scaling of precipitation extremes with temperature in the French Mediterranean region: what explains the hook shape? J Geophys Res Atmos 121:3100–3119. doi:10.1002/2015JD023497
Hatzaki M, Flocas H, Asimakopoulos DN, Maheras P (2007) The eastern Mediterranean teleconnection pattern: identification and definition. Int J Climatol 27:727–737
Hatzaki M, Flocas H, Giannakopoulos CH, Maheras P (2009) The impact of the eastern Mediterranean teleconnection pattern at the Mediterranean climate. J Clim 22:977–992
Houssos EE, Bartzokas A (2006) Extreme precipitation events in NW Greece. Adv Geosci 7:91–96
Houssos EE, Lolis CJ, Bartzokas A (2008) Atmospheric circulation patterns associated with extreme precipitation amounts in Greece. Adv Geosci 17:5–11
IPCC (2012) Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. In: Field CB, Barros V, Stocker TF, Qin D, Dokken DJ, Ebi KL, Mastrandrea MD, Mach KJ, Plattner G-K, Allen SK, Tignor M, Midgley PM (eds) A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York 582 pp
Kalnay E, Kanamitsu M, Kistler R, Collins W, Deaven D, Gandin L, Iredell M, Saha S, White G, Woollen J, Zhu Y, Chelliah M, Ebisuzaki W, Higgins W, Janowiak J, Mo KC, Ropelewski C, Wang J, Leetmaa A, Reynolds R, Jenne R, Joseph D (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Am Met Soc 77:437–471
Kioutsioukis I, Melas D, Zerefos C (2010) Statistical assessment of changes in climate extremes over Greece (1955–2002). Int J Climatol 30:1723–1737
Klein Tank AMG, Können GP (2003) Trends in indices of daily temperature and precipitation extremes in Europe, 1946–99. J Clim 16:3665–3680
Kostopoulou E, Jones PD (2005) Assessment of climate extremes in the eastern Mediterranean. Meteorog Atmos Phys 89:69–85
Krichak SO, Barkan J, Breitgand JS, Gualdi S, Feldstein SB (2015) The role of the export of tropical moisture into midlatitudes for extreme precipitaion events in the Mediterranean region. Theor Appl Climatol 121:499–515. doi:10.1007/s00704-014-1244-6
Kutiel H, Benaroch Y (2002) North Sea-Caspian Pattern (NCP)—an upper level atmospheric téléconnection affecting the eastern Mediterranean: implications on the regional climate. Theor Appl Climatol 72:173–192
Kyselý J (2009) Trends in heavy precipitation in the Czech Republic over 1961–2005. Int J Climatol 29:1745–1758
Li Y, Cai W, Campbell EP (2005) Statistical modelling of extreme rainfall in southwest western Australia. J Clim 18(6):852–863
Lionello P, Abrantes F, Congedi L, Dulac F, Gacic M, Gomis D, Goodess C, Hoff H, Kutiel H, Luterbacher J, Planton S, Reale M, Schröder K, Struglia MV, Toreti A, Tsimplis M, Ulbrich U, Xoplaki E (2010) Introduction: Mediterranean climate-background information. The climate of the Mediterranean region. Elsevier, Amsterdam ISBN: 978-0-12-416042-2
Maheras P, Balafoutis CH (1981) Essai d’interprétation du rythme diurne des orages d’été dans la région de Thessalonique. Recherches géographiques à Strasbourg 13-14:161–168
Maheras P, Patrikas I, Karacostas T, Anagnostopoulou C (2000) Automatic classification of circulation types in Greece: methodology, description, frequency, variability and trend analysis. Theor Appl Climatol 67:205–223
Maheras P, Flocas HA, Anagnostopoulou C, Patrikas I (2002) On the vertical structure of composite surface cyclones in the Mediterranean region. Theor Appl Climatol 71:199–217
Maheras P, Tolika K, Chr A, Vafiadis M, Patrikas I, Flocas H (2004) On the relationships between circulation types and changes in rainfall variability in Greece. Int J Climatol 24:1695–1712
Maheras P, Kolyva-Machera F, Tolika K, Anagnostopoulou C (2016) Les précipitations exceptionnelles de l’année 2014 dans la Grèce septentrionale. XXXIXe Colloque de l’Association Internationale de Climatologie, Lausanne-Besançon, 2016, 309–314 (in french)
Nastos PT, Zerefos CS (2007) On extreme daily precipitation totals at Athens, Greece. Adv Geosci 10:59–66
Nastos PT, Zerefos CS (2008) Decadal changes in extreme daily precipitation in Greece. Adv Geosci 16:55–62. doi:10.5194/adgeo-16-55-2008
Pytharoulis I, Kotsopoulos S, Tegoulias I, Kartsios S, Bampzelis D, Karacostas T (2016) Numerical modeling of an intense precipitation event and its associated lightning activity over northern Greece. Atmos Res 169(2016):523–538
Raveh-Rubin S, Wernli H (2015) Large-scale wind and precipitation extremes in the Mediterranean: a climatological analysis for 1979–2012. Q J R Meteorol Soc 141:2404–2417. doi:10.1002/qj.2531
Rebora N, Molini L, Casella E, Comellas A, Fiori E, Pignone F, Siccardi F, Silvestro F, Tanelli S, Parodi A (2013) Extreme rainfall in the Mediterranean: what can we learn from observations? J Hydrometeorol 14:906–922
Seneviratne SI, Nicholls N, Easterling D, Goodess CM, Kanae S, Kossin J, Luo Y, Marengo J, McInnes K, Rahimi M, Reichstein M, Sorteberg A, Vera C, Zhang X (2012) Changes in climate extremes and their impacts on the naturalphysical environment. In: Field CB, Barros V, Stocker TF, Qin D, Dokken DJ, Ebi KL, Mastrandrea MD, Mach KJ, Plattner G-K, Allen SK, Tignor M, Midgley PM (eds) A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, pp 109–230
Steinbrich A, Uhlenbrook S, Reich T, Kolokotronis V (2005) Raum-zeitliche Zusammenhange zwischen Großwetterlagen und ¨ Starkniederschlagen in Baden-Württemberg. WasserWirtschaft 11:14–19
Tebaldi C, Hayhoe K, Arblaster JM, Meehl GA (2006) Going to the extremes: an intercomparison of the model simulated historical and future changes in extreme events. Clim Chang 79:185–211
Tolika K, Anagnostopoulou C, Maheras P, Kutiel H (2007) Extreme precipitation related to circulation types for four case studies over the Eastern Mediterranean. Adv Geosci 12:87–93
Toreti A, Xoplaki E, Maraun D, Kuglitsch FG, Wanner H, Luterbacher J (2010) Characterisation of extreme winter precipitation in Mediterranean coastal sites and associated anomalous atmospheric circulation patterns. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 10(5):1037–1050
Tošić I, Unkašević M, Putniković S (2016) Extreme daily precipitation: the case of Serbia in 2014. Theor Appl Climatol. doi:10.1007/s00704-016-1749-2
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tolika, K., Maheras, P. & Anagnostopoulou, C. The exceptionally wet year of 2014 over Greece: a statistical and synoptical-atmospheric analysis over the region of Thessaloniki. Theor Appl Climatol 132, 809–821 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2131-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2131-8