Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Characteristics of Flash Flood Regimes in the Mediterranean Region

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Storminess and Environmental Change

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 39))

Abstract

This work analyses the prominent characteristics of extreme storms and flash-flood regimes in two main areas of the Mediterranean region: the North-Western (comprising Spain, France and Italy) and South-Eastern region (Israel). The two areas are chosen to represent the two end members of variation in flash-flood regimes in the Mediterranean basin. Data from 99 events collected in the two areas (69 from the North-Western region and 30 from the South-Eastern region), for which occurrence date, catchment area and flood peak are available, were used to provide a detailed description the flash-flood seasonality patterns, the synoptic and mesoscale atmospheric controls, and flood envelope relationship. Results show that the flood envelope curve for the South-Eastern region exhibits a more pronounced decreasing with catchment size with respect to the curve of the North-Western region. The differences between the two relationships reflect variations in the fractional storm coverage of the basin and hydrological characteristics between the two regions. Seasonality analysis shows that the events in the North-Western region tend to occur between August and November, whereas those in the South-Eastern area tend to occur in the period between October and May, reflecting the relevant patterns in the synoptic conditions controlling the generation of intense precipitation events.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alpert P, Neeman BU, Shay-El Y (1990) Climatological analysis of Mediterranean cyclones using ECMWF data. Tellus 42A:65–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashbel D (1938) Great floods in Sinai peninsula, Palestine, Syria and the Syrian desert, and the influence of the Red Sea on their formation. Q J R Meteorol Soc 64:635–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borga M, Gaume E, Creutin JD, Marchi L (2008) Surveying flash flood response: gauging the ungauged extremes. Hydrol Process 22:3883–3885

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borga M, Anagnostou EN, Blöschl G, Creutin J-D (2011) Flash flood forecasting, warning and risk management: the HYDRATE project. Environ Sci Pol 14:834–844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braud I, Roux H, Anquetin S, Maubourguet M-M, Manus C, Viallet P, Dartus D (2010) The use of distributed hydrological models for the Gard 2002 flash flood event: analysis of associated hydrological processes. J Hydrol 394:162–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buzzi A, D’Isidoro M, Davolio S (2003) A case study of an orographic cyclone south of the Alps during the MAP SOP. Q J R Meteorol Soc 129:1795–1818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castellarin A (2007) Probabilistic envelope curves for design flood estimation at ungauged sites. Water Resour Res 43:W044006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa JE (1987) A comparison of the largest rainfall-runoff floods in the Unites States with those of the People’s Republic of China and the world. J Hydrol 96:101–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahan O, Shani Y, Enzel Y, Yechieli Y, Yakirevich A (2007) Direct measurements of floodwater infiltration into shallow alluvial aquifers. J Hydrol 344:157–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dayan U, Morin E (2006) Flash flood-producing rainstorms over the Dead Sea: a review. In: Enzel Y, Agnon A, Stein M (eds) New frontiers in Dead Sea paleoenvironmental research, Geological society of America special paper 401. Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 53–62

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dayan U, Ziv B, Margalit A, Morin E, Sharon D (2001) A severe autumn storm over the Middle-East: synoptic and mesoscale convection analysis. Theor Appl Climatol 69:103–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drobinski P, Bastin S, Guénard V, Caccia JL, Dabas AM, Delville P, Protat A, Reitebuch O, Werner C (2005) Summer mistral at the exit of the Rhône valley. QJR Meteorol Soc 131:353–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaume E, Valerie B, Pietro B, Newinger O, Barbuc M, Bateman A, BlaÅ¡kovicová L, Blöschl G, Borga M, Dumitrescu A, Daliakopoulos J, Garcia J, Irimescu A, Kohnova S, Koutroulis A, Marchi L, Matreata S, Medina V, Preciso E, Sempere-Torres D, Stancalie G, Szolgay J, Tsanis I, Velasco D, Viglione A (2009) A compilation of data on European flash floods. J Hydrol 367(1–2):70–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giorgi F (2006) Climate change hot-spots. Geophys Res Lett 33:L08707

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenbaum N, Ben-Zvi A, Haviv I, Enzel Y (2006) The hydrology and paleohydrology of the Dead Sea tributaries. In: Enzel Y, Agnon A, Stein M (eds) New frontiers in Dead Sea paleoenvironmental research, Geological society of America special paper 401. Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 63–93

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Guenard V, Drobinski P, Caccia JL, Campistron B, Benech B (2005) An observational study of the mesoscale mistral dynamics. Bound-Layer Meteorol 115:263–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansà A, Genovés A, Picornell M, Campins J, Riosalido OCR (2001) Western Mediterranean cyclones and heavy rain. Part 2: Statistical approach. Meteorol Appl 8:43–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahana R, Ziv B, Enzel Y, Dayan U (2002) Synoptic climatology of major floods in the Negev Desert, Israel. Int J Climatol 22:867–882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koutroulis AG, Tsanis IK, Daliakopoulos IN (2010) Seasonality of floods and their hydrometeorologic characteristics in the island of Crete. J Hydrol 394:90–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krichak SO, Alpert P, Dayan M (2004) The role of atmospheric processes associated with hurricane Olga in the December 2001 Floods in Israel. J Hydrometeorol 5:1259–1270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Llasat MC, Llasat-Botija M, Prat MA, Porcú F, Price C, Mugnai A, Lagouvardos K, Kotroni V, Katsanos D, Michaelides S, Yair Y, Savvidou K, Nicolaides K (2010) High-impact floods and flash floods in Mediterranean countries: the FLASH preliminary database. Adv Geosci 23:47–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martìnez MD, Lana X, Burgueno A, Serra C (2007) Spatial and temporal daily rainfall regime in Catalonia (NE Spain) derived from four precipitation indices, years 1950–2000. Int J Climatol 27:123–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morin E, Harats N, Jacoby Y, Arbel S, Getker M, Arazi A, Grodek T, Ziv B, Dayan U (2007) Studying the extremes: hydrometeorological investigation of a flood-causing rainstorm over Israel. Adv Geosci 12:107–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norbiato D, Borga M, Degli Esposti S, Gaume E, Anquetin S (2008) Flash flood warning based on rainfall depth-duration thresholds and soil moisture conditions: an assessment for gauged and ungauged basins. J Hydrol 362:274–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuissier O, Joly B, Joly A, Ducrocq V, Arbogast P (2011) A statistical downscaling to identify the large-scale circulation patterns associated with heavy precipitation events over southern France. Q J R Meteorol Soc 137:1812–1827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterssen S (1956) Weather analysis and forecasting. McGraw-Hill, New York, 428 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Romero R, Sumner G, Ramis C, Genove A (1999) A classification of the atmospheric circulation patterns producing significant daily rainfall in the Spanish Mediterranean area. Int J Climatol 19:765–785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudari R, Entekhabi D, Roth G (2005) Large-scale atmospheric patterns associated with mesoscale features leading to extreme precipitation events in Northwestern Italy. Adv Water Resour 28:601–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saaroni H, Halfon N, Ziv B, Alpert P, Kutiel H (2010) Links between the rainfall regime in Israel and location and intensity of Cyprus lows. Int J Climatol 30:1014–1025

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharon D, Kutiel H (1986) The distribution of rainfall intensity in Israel, its regional and seasonal variations and its climatological evaluation. J Climatol 6:277–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shentsis I, Meirovich L, Ben-Zvi A, Rosenthal E (1999) Assessment of transmission losses and groundwater recharge from runoff events in a Wadi under shortage of data on lateral inflow, Negev, Israel. Hydrol Process 13:1649–1663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigo IF, Bigg GR, Davies TD (2002) Climatology of cyclogenesis mechanism in the Mediterranean. Mon Weather Rev 130:549–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano SM, Beguerìa S, Lopez-Moreno JI, Kenawy AMEI, Angulo-Martínez M (2009) Daily atmospheric circulation events and extreme precipitation risk in Northeast Spain: the role of the North Atlantic Oscillation, Western Mediterranean Oscillation, and Mediterranean Oscillation. J Geophys Res Atmos 114:D08106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittenberg L, Kutiel H, Greenbaum N, Inbar M (2007) Short-term changes in the magnitude, frequency and temporal distribution of floods in the Eastern Mediterranean region during the last 45 years—Nahal Oren, Mt. Carmel, Israel. Geomorphology 84:181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yanovich E, Ben-Zvi A, Shentsis I (1996) Enveloping curves for maximum discharges in the Negev Wadis. Report HYD/6/96, Israel Hydrological Service, Jerusalem, Israel (in Hebrew)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziv B (2001) A subtropical rainstorm associated with a tropical plume over Africa and the Middle East. Theor Appl Climatol 69:91–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziv B, Dayan U, Kushnir Y, Roth C, Enzel Y, Ziv B (2006) Regional and global atmospheric patterns governing rainfall in the southern Levant. Int J Climatol 26:55–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD, Italy

    Marco Borga

  2. Department of Geography, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Efrat Morin

Authors
  1. Marco Borga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Efrat Morin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Borga .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. HyMex Network, Met European Research Observatory, Benevento, Italy

    Nazzareno Diodato

  2. Grassland Ecosystem Research Unit, French National Institute of Agricultural Research, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Gianni Bellocchi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Borga, M., Morin, E. (2014). Characteristics of Flash Flood Regimes in the Mediterranean Region. In: Diodato, N., Bellocchi, G. (eds) Storminess and Environmental Change. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7948-8_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation