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Atmosphere
Special Issues
State-of-the-Art in Severe Weather Research
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State-of-the-Art in Severe Weather Research

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Meteorology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 7009

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Tomeu Rigo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Servei Meteorologic de Catalunya, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: severe weather; remote sensing; nowcasting; hail; heavy rain; supercells; squall lines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Severe and large-scale hailstorms produce significant damage in many regions globally. In recent years, the occurrence trends of very large hail have tended to rise in most parts of the world with global warming, and only some areas have shown different behaviors. On the other hand, small hail events seem to have reduced in number. As well as global warming, several other direct and indirect factors could influence hail occurrence and distribution. However, the irregularity of such cases and the complexity of the processes inside thunderstorms make it difficult to definitively conclude about the future trends of hail. This Special Issue will publish research that enhances our understanding of the hail cycle's different steps, including studies analyzing topics from the identification of favorable large-scale and meso-scale environments to micro-physics inside hailstorms. The issue will thus provide insights into this specific field of atmospheric sciences.

Dr. Tomeu Rigo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hail
  • hailstorm
  • radar
  • lightning
  • satellite
  • numerical weather prediction
  • internal structure

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3113 KB  
Article
Intense Rainfall in Urban Areas: Characterization of High-Intensity Storms in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (2014–2022)
by Laura Esbrí, Tomeu Rigo and María del Carmen Llasat
Atmosphere 2026, 17(1), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos17010041 - 28 Dec 2025
Viewed by 778
Abstract
Urban coastal areas along the Mediterranean are exposed to short-duration convective rainfall, producing infrastructure disruptions and flood-related impacts. This study analyzes 45 rainfall episodes in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona between 2014 and 2022, combining radar products, rain gauge observations, and urban-scale impact [...] Read more.
Urban coastal areas along the Mediterranean are exposed to short-duration convective rainfall, producing infrastructure disruptions and flood-related impacts. This study analyzes 45 rainfall episodes in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona between 2014 and 2022, combining radar products, rain gauge observations, and urban-scale impact datasets. Storm radar tracking enabled the identification of key spatiotemporal features and assessment of short-term forecasting performance. Convective cells were typically short-lived, lasting less than 30 min in most cases. The main goal of the research has been the comparison between VIL density (DVIL) radar field and short-duration rainfall intensity provided by rain gauges. This is the first study comparing both data types, being a pioneer in this field. We have found a linear relationship between both data types, with weaker values for larger values. More persistent cells had higher DVIL values, observing a difference in behavior with a break point at 2 g/m3. The tracking and nowcasting system were evaluated based on its ability to anticipate convective precipitation. It achieved good scores values (POD of 0.73 and FAR of 0.33), considering the difficulties of tracking this type of convective system. Finally, false alarms associated with elevated DVIL values suggested the difficulty of capturing storm severity by surface-based precipitation measurements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art in Severe Weather Research)
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29 pages, 7931 KB  
Article
Decadal- and Annual-Scale Interactions Between the North Atlantic Oscillation and Precipitation over Northern Algeria: Identifying Suitable Wavelet Families for Nonlinear Analysis
by Bilel Zerouali, Mohamed Chettih, Zaki Abda, Wafa Saleh Alkhuraiji, Celso Augusto Guimarães Santos, Mohamed Saber, Nadjem Bailek, Neyara Radwan and Youssef M. Youssef
Atmosphere 2025, 16(12), 1373; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16121373 - 3 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1923
Abstract
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) represents the dominant atmospheric mode governing climate variability across the Northern Hemisphere, particularly influencing precipitation regimes in regions such as northern Algeria. This study investigates the nonlinear linkage between monthly NAO indices and rainfall over northern Algeria for [...] Read more.
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) represents the dominant atmospheric mode governing climate variability across the Northern Hemisphere, particularly influencing precipitation regimes in regions such as northern Algeria. This study investigates the nonlinear linkage between monthly NAO indices and rainfall over northern Algeria for the period 1970–2009 using a cross-multiresolution analysis framework based on seven wavelet families—Daubechies, Biorthogonal, Reverse Biorthogonal, Discrete Meyer, Symlets, Coiflets, and Fejer–Korovkin—comprising a total of 106 individual mother wavelets. More than 700 cross-correlations were computed per NAO–rainfall pair to identify wavelet families that yield stable and physically coherent teleconnection structures across seven decomposition scales (D1–A7). The maximum decomposition level (27 = 128 months, ≈10.6 years) captures intra-annual to decadal variability without extending into multidecadal regimes, ensuring temporal representativeness relative to the 40-year record length. The results reveal that short-term scales (D1–D3) are dominated by noise, masking weak correlations (≤±0.20), while stronger and more coherent relationships emerge at longer scales, reaching ±0.4 at the annual and ±0.75 at the decadal bands. These findings confirm the pronounced influence of low-frequency NAO variability on regional precipitation. Unlike previous studies limited to a few Daubechies wavelets, this work systematically compares 106 wavelet forms and evaluates robustness through reproducibility across scales, consistency among wavelet families, and physical coherence with known NAO periodicities (2–4 and 8–12 years). By emphasizing stability and physical plausibility over statistical significance alone, this approach minimizes the risk of spurious correlations due to multiple testing and highlights genuine scale-dependent teleconnection patterns. The application of discrete wavelet transforms thus enhances signal clarity, isolates meaningful oscillations, and provides a robust diagnostic framework for understanding NAO–rainfall dynamics in northern Algeria. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art in Severe Weather Research)
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34 pages, 7809 KB  
Article
Forecasting Rainfall IDF Curves Using Ground Data and Downscaled Climate Projections to Enhance Flood Management in Punjab, Pakistan
by Fahad Haseeb, Shahid Ali, Naveed Ahmed, Wafa Saleh Alkhuraiji, Bojan Đurin and Youssef M. Youssef
Atmosphere 2025, 16(11), 1271; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16111271 - 8 Nov 2025
Viewed by 2856
Abstract
Urban flooding poses an escalating threat to riverine cities in Southern Asia’s tropical regions, primarily driven by rapid urban expansion. This study develops future projections of Intensity–Duration–Frequency (IDF) curves for major urban centers in Punjab, Pakistan, utilizing downscaled satellite-derived precipitation data. Baseline IDF [...] Read more.
Urban flooding poses an escalating threat to riverine cities in Southern Asia’s tropical regions, primarily driven by rapid urban expansion. This study develops future projections of Intensity–Duration–Frequency (IDF) curves for major urban centers in Punjab, Pakistan, utilizing downscaled satellite-derived precipitation data. Baseline IDF curves were established using historical rainfall records from multiple meteorological stations. Among eight General Circulation Models (GCMs) assessed, EC-Earth3-Veg-LR demonstrated the highest skill in capturing extreme rainfall patterns relevant to the region. Future precipitation projections from this model were downscaled using the Equidistant Quantile Matching (EQM) technique and applied to generate IDF curves under two CMIP6 scenarios: SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5. The results reveal a substantial increase in extreme rainfall intensities, particularly under the SSP5-8.5 scenario, with projected 100-year return period rainfall intensities rising by approximately 30–55% across key cities. The downscaled projections reveal more pronounced variations than the raw GCM outputs, emphasizing the importance of high-resolution climate data for accurate regional hydrological risk evaluation and effective urban flood resilience planning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art in Severe Weather Research)
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20 pages, 30882 KB  
Article
Analysis of the Ducted Gravity Waves Generated by Elevated Convection over Complex Terrain in China
by Manman Ma and Luyao Qin
Atmosphere 2025, 16(10), 1118; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16101118 - 24 Sep 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 841
Abstract
Gravity waves play a crucial role in the evolution of convective systems. The unique thermal structure of elevated convection occurring above a stable boundary layer facilitates the generation and propagation of gravity waves. This study focuses on an elevated convection event over Central [...] Read more.
Gravity waves play a crucial role in the evolution of convective systems. The unique thermal structure of elevated convection occurring above a stable boundary layer facilitates the generation and propagation of gravity waves. This study focuses on an elevated convection event over Central China on the night of 2–3 February 2024. The WRF model, combined with terrain sensitivity experiments, is employed to analyze the characteristics of gravity waves and the effects of terrain variability. The event consists of two elevated convection clusters; the first triggers gravity waves on its southwestern side, which subsequently initiates the second convection cluster. The gravity waves exhibit a horizontal wavelength of 25 km and a period of 17.5 min, propagating eastward. Below an altitude of 3 km, a stable wave duct layer is present, overlain by an unstable overreflective zone. This stratification creates an ideal channel for ducted gravity wave propagation, which is essential for maintaining the waves. Sensitivity experiments confirm that convective forcing alone is sufficient to generate the observed gravity waves. Although the terrain lies within the stable boundary layer, its ruggedness modulates the distribution of waves and indirectly influences the organization of elevated convection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art in Severe Weather Research)
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