Preliminarna analiza mogućeg slučaja jadranske ciklone tropskih karakteristika od 21. siječnja 2023.

Abstract

This short article addresses a preliminary study of transient subsynoptic cyclonic behavior over a broader area of the Adriatic Sea. The January 2023 case presented here shows a transition from an extratropical Mediterranean cyclone into a partially tropical-like cyclonic system (TLC) over the south and central Adriatic Sea. The warm barotropic core, cyclonic “eye” and relatively symmetric precipitation bands around the vortex were the main TLC properties of this system. In the short analysis of the event, the assumption is made that size limitations of the Adriatic basin prevented development of the system into a full-strength “medicane”. Hence, such vigorous small-scale cyclones just might be named “adricanes”. Presentation of this case contributes to the relatively scarce research of these rare Adriatic TLC events. The criteria for cyclonic system classification as TLC or extra- tropical are also discussed, with the supporting idea of a spectrum between fully tropical and fully extratropical cyclones (instead of binary classification), where the particular system can fall anywhere in between, depending on the ratio of tropical and extratropical properties it possesses.