Advances in Geosciences www.adv-geosci.net 1680-7340 1680-7359 7 7th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms (2005) 2006 10.5194/adgeo-7-37-2006 http://www.adv-geosci.net/7/37/2006/ http://www.adv-geosci.net/7/37/2006/adgeo-7-37-2006.html http://www.adv-geosci.net/7/37/2006/adgeo-7-37-2006.pdf 37 44 2006-01-23 The 11&#x2212;12 December 2003 storm in Southern Italy S. Federico C. Bellecci CRATI Scrl, c/o University of Calabria, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy CNR-ISAC, via del Fosso del Calvaliere, 100, 00133 Rome, Italy Facolt&#x00E0;di Ingegneria, Universit`a di "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy We review an intense and heavy impact storm that occurred over Calabria, southern Italy, during the 11 and 12 December 2003. The event is traced back, at synoptic and planetary scales, up to 5 December 2003 by National Centre for Environmental Prediction/National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis fields and backtrajectories. </p><p style="line-height: 20px;"> The role of tropical storm Odette is clearly shown as well as that of the Azores high. Even if non negligible water vapour sources are expected from the Mediterranean sea, unusually large precipitable water was present over the Atlantic mid-latitudes. It is shown that tropical storm Odette determined large evaporation from Atlantic Tropics and the cooperative action of synoptic scale and planetary scale pressure centres focused this humidity into a plume and conveyed it into the Mediterranean area.