A Study of an Extreme Hot Weather Event in Greece with the WRF-ARW Atmospheric Model

Abstract

Extreme weather events are more frequently occurring worldwide over the last years and are becoming of great concern due to their societal impacts. The analytical study of such events is very important to the scientific community so as to comprehend their causes and investigate their connections with human induced climate change. In the framework of compiling a methodology to study extremes for risk assessment, the WRF atmospheric model was employed to simulate extreme hot weather conditions over the Greek peninsula during 2007 (June, 20–30). NCEP FNL analyses data were used for input. The model configuration was setup to include three nested domains with increasing horizontal resolution (11, 2 and 0.5 km respectively), centered in Attica area. The model parameterization was finally concluded following a number of sensitivity tests, previously carried out for other weather events in the same area. The calculated meteorological variables were analyzed and evaluation of the results was performed against in situ measurements by the network of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) stations. The comparison showed good agreement between model results and observations. The model parameterization and applied methodology proved to be a useful tool for studying, forecasting and trying to limit down consequences of such events.