Abstract
Abstract. On 24 August 2015 intense rainfall episodes generated flash floods and landslides on the eastern Black Sea coast of Turkey. As a consequence of the heavy rainstorm activity over Artvin and its surroundings (NE Turkey), 11 people died and economic losses totaled a million dollars. Over the 6 h of the event (from 05:00 to 11:00 UTC), total accumulated rainfall amounts of 136, 64, and 109 mm were measured in the Hopa, Arhavi, and Borçka settlements of Artvin city, respectively. This study comprehensively investigates the meteorological characteristics of those flash floods. In terms of synoptic mechanisms, the cutoff surface low from the summer Asian monsoon settled over the eastern Black Sea. After two days of quasistationary conditions of this cyclone, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) reached 27.5 °C (1.5 °C higher than normal) and low-level moisture convergence developed. In addition, transfer of moisture by warm northerly flows from the Black Sea and relatively cool southerly flows from the land coasts of the Artvin district exacerbated the unstable conditions and thus played a significant role in the development of deep convective cells. Severe rainstorms as well as the slope instability of the region triggered landslides and worsened flood damages in the Artvin area. This study supports conventional weather analysis, satellite images, and forecast model output to alert forecasters to the potential for heavy rainfall.
Highlights
The interaction between mesoscale convective systems (MCS) in the warm Mediterranean Sea and sudden orographic lifting in the coastal regions produces severe precipitation over the Mediterranean countries (Rebora et al., 2012)
This paper investigated the meteorological role in an extraordinary rain event over Artvin
A large amount of precipitation fell in an area of a few square kilometers with high intensity in about 6 to 7 h, and numerical weather prediction (NWP) models cannot predict such extreme events well
Summary
The interaction between mesoscale convective systems (MCS) in the warm Mediterranean Sea and sudden orographic lifting in the coastal regions produces severe precipitation over the Mediterranean countries (Rebora et al., 2012) These severe precipitation events generally generate flash floods and cause serious damages and economic losses. Due to its huge social and economic impacts, it is necessary to improve our current understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of flash floods in order to improve forecasts and land-use planning For this reason, several studies have analyzed the meteorological (e.g., Milelli et al, 2006; Fragoso et al, 2012), hydrological (e.g., Silvestro et al, 2012), or hydrometeorological (e.g., Delrieu et al, 2005; Borga et al, 2007) characteristics of floods at a particular area and time.
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