Articles | Volume 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-7-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-7-2016
23 Feb 2016
 | 23 Feb 2016

Intense air-sea exchange and heavy rainfall: impact of the northern Adriatic SST

P. Stocchi and S. Davolio

Abstract. Over the northern Adriatic basin, intense air-sea interactions are often associated with heavy precipitation over the mountainous areas surrounding the basin. In this study, a high-resolution mesoscale model is employed to simulate three severe weather events and to evaluate the effect of the sea surface temperature on the intensity and location of heavy rainfall. The sensitivity tests show that the impact of SST varies among the events and it mainly involves the modification of the PBL characteristics and thus the flow dynamics and its interaction with the orography.

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Short summary
Three heavy rain events over NE Alps were simulated using a high-resolution model to evaluate the effect of the SST of the Adriatic Sea. These preliminary results show that SST influences the surface heat fluxes over the sea, but does not necessary affect the vertical integrated water vapour flux across the coast. The response of heavy precipitation to a SST change is complex: SST affects the PBL characteristics and thus the flow dynamics and its interaction with orography.