Tornadoes and waterspouts in Greece

Tornadoes and waterspouts occur in various parts of Greece and may often reach the media as remarkable events, depending of their intensity and the level of damage. This paper is based on a research started from the beginning of 2000 for identifying and recording tornadoes and waterspouts in Greece and evaluating their intensity and other fundamental characteristics. Search of historical events for obtaining more comprehensive tornado climatology is in progress. In an almost 3-year period, January 2000–September 2002, tornadoes and waterspouts have been reported from various parts of Greece, including western Greece, the Ionian islands and western Peloponnese mainly during autumn and winter. Northern Greece is affected by tornadic activity mostly during summer and early autumn. The geographical distribution showed a preference for tornado occurrence mainly in coastal areas. Based on this almost 3-year data sample, a mean number of six tornadoes per year has resulted, corresponding to a density of 0.45 10−4 km−2 year−1. Maximum intensity of tornadoes recorded was rated as T6 of the Tornado and Storm Research Organization (TORRO) scale (F3 of the Fujita scale). A basic synoptic typing scheme is presented, including four synoptic circulation patterns associated to tornado occurrence.