A climatic study of severe storms over Bulgaria produced by Mediterranean cyclones in 1990−2001 period

Over south-eastern Europe, severe weather events are often associated with Mediterranean cyclones. This paper presents a climatic study of severe storms over Bulgaria produced by synoptic-scale Mediterranean cyclones, which are the main high-impact weather systems for the region during the winter season. The study is based on a synoptically oriented data set that contains systematic information about the pronounced Mediterranean cyclones including their life and trajectories over the Mediterranean area and the severe storms over Bulgaria produced by them. The definition of a severe storm is a storm in which the wind speed and precipitation exceed thresholds of 15 m/s and 30 mm/24 h, respectively. The observed severe storms were split into two groups by the number of districts where they have caused damages. During the last years a trend of decreasing numbers of initiating synoptic-scale Mediterranean cyclones has been observed. However, the number of those producing a high-impact weather phenomenon over Bulgaria has increased. In these high-impact cases, the observed paths of the cyclones are connected to the specific circulation conditions over the region. In the most severe cases, almost 80% of the cyclones move through the southernmost parts of Balkan Peninsula and for a large portion of them, this motion is associated with a blocking regime in the mid-level mass field.The development of such Mediterranean cyclone cases has been studied and results are presented here. The results illustrate the synoptic-scale mechanisms for intensification of a feeding flow of Mediterranean air towards the area affected by extremely severe weather.