Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones: Impacts and composite daily means and anomalies of synoptic patterns

The findings shed light on the high activity of medicanes during autumn and winter with maxima in September, decreasing thereafter with a long tail extending in spring and minimizing in summer. The average number of the selected medicanes is 1.4 ± 1.3 events per year while their inter-annual variability is remarkable, although there is not any statistically significant trend (95% confidence level) within the examined period. We found from the analysis of the composite daily anomalies of the synoptic conditions that medicanes initiate and further develop in Mediterranean regions where cold air intrusions appear in the upper atmosphere associated with warm sea waters. Last but not least, the impacts of medicanes over coastal areas, including infrastructure damage and casualties due to associated strong winds, heavy rainfall, and in rare cases, tornadoes, are well presented, indicating the high concern of such extreme atmospheric phenomena should be given by stake holders towards resilience of the society.