Advances in Geosciences www.adv-geosci.net 1680-7340 1680-7359 17 9th EGU Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms (2007) 2009 10.5194/adgeo-17-93-2009 http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/93/2009/ http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/93/2009/adgeo-17-93-2009.html http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/93/2009/adgeo-17-93-2009.pdf 93 98 2009-03-13 Case studies of selected Project "Flash" events K. A. Nicolaides kleanthi@spidernet.com.cy S. C. Michaelides K. Savvidou A. Orphanou P. Constantinides M. Charalambous M. Michaelides Meteorological Service, Nicosia, Cyprus Department of Lands and Surveys, Nicosia, Cyprus Flooding is a consequence of the prevailing meteorological situation, the intensity and duration of precipitation, geomorphology, human activities over a geographical region and other factors. Floods result in damage and destruction of infrastructure and private property and, in some cases, in fatalities. Flash floods are sudden and quite localized in extend, characterized by excessive amounts of rainfall within a short period of time and are distinguished from other floods by their degree of severity. The broader knowledge concerning flash floods is useful for the better understanding of the underlying thermodynamic and dynamic mechanisms, as well as the associated physical processes. The wider understanding of flashfloods can form part of an integrated system for short and very short forecasting of these events. In the present study, the synoptic, dynamic and thermodynamic conditions during the development of a baroclinic depression which affected the area of Cyprus on 6 November 2005 are studied. The depression was associated with extreme weather phenomena, such as thunderstorms, a water spout and high precipitation accumulations. The results indicate the importance of the dynamic parameters in the system's development and the thermodynamic analysis has shown the convective potential of the atmosphere. El-Fandy, M. G.: Barometric Lows of Cyprus, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 72, 291–306, 1946. Einfalt, T. and Michaelides, S.: Quality control of precipitation data. in: Precipitation: Advances in measurement, estimation and prediction, edited by: Michaelides, S., Springer-Verlag, ISBN:978-3-540-77654-3, 101–125, 2008. Flash project: http://flash-eu.tau.ac.il/, access: 6 June 2008. Gabella, M., Michaelides, S., Perona, G.: Preliminary comparison of TRMM and ground-based precipitation radars for a European test site, Int. J. Remote Sens., 26, 997–1006, 2005. Gabella, M., Joss, J., Perona, G., and Michaelides, S. : Range Adjustment for Ground-Based Radar, Derived With the Spaceborne TRMM Precipitation Radar, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote Sens., 44, 126–133, 2006. Kallos, G. and Metaxas, D. A.: Synoptic processes for the formation of Cyprus lows, Rivista Meteorologia Aeronautica XL (2–3), 121–138, 1980. Michaelides, S., Nicolaides, K., and Karacostas, T.: Statistical characteristics of the cold season depressions over the area of Cyprus, Meteorologick\'y èasopis 7, 61–66, 2004. Nicolaides, K.: Synoptic and dynamic study of the depression cases affected the wider area of Cyprus during cold months, PhD thesis, Aristotelian University, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2005 (in Greek). Nicolaides, K., Michaelides, S., and Karacostas, T.: Spatial distribution of some dynamic parameters during the evolution of selected depressions over the area of Cyprus, Int. J. Climatol., 24, 1829–1844, 2004. Orphanou, A., Savvidou, K., Nicolaides, K., Michaelides, S., and Theodorou, A.: Thermodynamic indices over the area of Cyprus. Proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Applications of Meteorology, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, 2007. University of Wyoming: http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html, access: 6 June 2008.