Severe rainfall events over the western Mediterranean Sea: A case study

A study of severe rainfall (≥ 100 mm in 24 h) over the Spanish provinces of Malaga, Granada y Almeria (close to the Alboran Sea, the westernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea) has been performed using 5 years (2006–2010) of data. The episodes of heavy rainfall were classified using the moisture flux at the 850 hPa pressure level and the lifted index. This gave three types, associated with situations of intense moisture flux and little static instability, moderate moisture flux and static instability, and moderate moisture flux and strong static instability. Representative cases of each type were analyzed, and it was found that both non-convective (41% of cases) and convective (59% of cases) systems caused the episodes of severe precipitation considered in this study. The convective structures included isolated and persistent convective systems, multicellular convective systems, and mesoscale convective systems.