Mediterranean storms (Medicane)

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What is a tropical Mediterranean storm?

The Mediterranean Tropical-like Cyclone is known as a stormy weather phenomenon with characteristics similar to tropical cyclones. It appears over the Mediterranean region. It is abbreviated as " Medicane " and is derived from " Mediterranean Hurricanes " which means Mediterranean storms.

Tropical-like storms are rare in the Mediterranean because of the surrounding arid climate and relatively shallow waters. The Mediterranean Sea is a body of water almost completely surrounded by land, as Europe is located in its north and Africa in its south, and is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Strait of Gibraltar. Although rare, it occurs from time to time.

Mediterranean Tropical Storms Characteristics

Mediterranean-like tropical storms usually form in autumn and winter, and they occur once or twice during the year, and tropical-like storms are characterized by the presence of symmetry in their structure, and the eye of the storm can be clearly seen in satellite images, and the heart of the storm is warm, and it is characteristic of Mediterranean-like storms of lesser diameter Than tropical storms, wind speed and force are also lower.

Effects of Mediterranean Tropical Storms

The Hurricane in the Mediterranean can cause flash floods and torrential torrents, due to heavy precipitation and winds that disturb the sea and high waves. On November 18, 2017, the Mediterranean storm struck Greece, which the Meteorological Institute at the University of Berlin called "Noma", causing flash floods , And killed 20 people and damaged more than 1,000 homes.

In the period from 14 to 20 September 2020 AD, the tropical Mediterranean cyclone called "Ianos" was observed by the National Observatory of Athens, which inundated parts of Greece, where the rainfall rate of "Ianus" in some areas was more than 25 mm / hour.