Advances in Geosciences www.adv-geosci.net 1680-7340 1680-7359 2 6th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms (2004) 2005 10.5194/adgeo-2-217-2005 http://www.adv-geosci.net/2/217/2005/ http://www.adv-geosci.net/2/217/2005/adgeo-2-217-2005.html http://www.adv-geosci.net/2/217/2005/adgeo-2-217-2005.pdf 217 220 2005-06-27 Genesis and maintenance of "Mediterranean hurricanes" K. Emanuel Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Cyclonic storms that closely resemble tropical cyclones in satellite images occasionally form over the Mediterranean Sea. Synoptic and mesoscale analyses of such storms show small, warm-core structure and surface winds sometimes exceeding 25ms^-1 over small areas. These analyses, together with numerical simulations, reveal that in their mature stages, such storms intensify and are maintained by a feedback between surface enthalpy fluxes and wind, and as such are isomorphic with tropical cyclones. In this paper, I demonstrate that a cold, upper low over the Mediterranean can produce strong cyclogenesis in an axisymmetric model, thereby showing that baroclinic instability is not necessary during the mature stages of Mediterranean hurricanes.