Abstract
Abstract. Medicanes are mesoscale tropical-like cyclones that develop in the Mediterranean basin and represent a great hazard for the coastal population. The skill to accurately simulate them is of utmost importance to prevent economical and personal damage. Medicanes are fueled by the latent heat released in the condensation process associated with convective activity, which is regulated by the presence and activation of cloud condensation nuclei, mainly originating from sea salt aerosols (SSAs) for marine environments. Henceforth, the purpose of this contribution is twofold: assessing the effects of an interactive calculation of SSA on the strengthening and persistence of medicanes, and providing insight into the casuistry and sensitivities around their simulation processes. To this end, a set of simulations have been conducted with a chemistry–meteorology coupled model considering prescribed aerosol (PA) and interactive aerosol (IA) concentrations. The results indicate that IA produces longer-lasting and more intense medicanes. Further, the role of the initialization time and nudging strategies for medicane simulations has been explored. Overall, the results suggest that (1) the application of spectral nudging dampens the effects of IA, (2) the initialization time introduces a strong variability in the storm dynamics, and (3) wind–SSA feedback is crucial and should be considered when studying medicanes.
Highlights
IntroductionMediterranean tropical-like cyclones, known as medicanes (from mediterranean hurricanes), are mesoscale perturbations that exhibit tropical characteristics, such as an eye-like feature and warm core
Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones, known as medicanes, are mesoscale perturbations that exhibit tropical characteristics, such as an eye-like feature and warm core
The role of initialization time is clearly depicted in Fig. 1: it induces a noticeable but nearly random behavior in the medicane response, with differences up to 5 hPa on the central SLP of the medicanes for two consecutive run-up times but in both directions and without a discernible pattern
Summary
Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones, known as medicanes (from mediterranean hurricanes), are mesoscale perturbations that exhibit tropical characteristics, such as an eye-like feature and warm core. These storms are characterized by high wind speeds and vertically aligned geopotential height perturbations along different pressure levels. Given the relatively small extent of the Mediterranean basin and the lower sea surface temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the common presence of environmental wind shear at midlatitudes, they do not reach the size and intensity of actual hurricanes. Our ability to understand and simulate accurately medicanes with state-of-the-art meteorological modeling systems stands as a key factor to prevent their associated damages
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