A 20-year satellite-reanalysis-based climatology of extreme precipitation characteristics over the Sinai Peninsula

Abstract

Extreme precipitation events and associated flash floods caused by synoptic cyclonic systems profoundly impact society and the environment, particularly in arid regions. This study brings forward a satellite-reanalysis-based approach to quantify extreme precipitation characteristics over the Sinai Peninsula (SiP) in Egypt from a statistical–synoptic perspective for the period of 2001–2020. With a multi-statistical approach developed in this research, SiP's wet and dry periods are determined. Using satellite observations of precipitation and a set of derived precipitation indices, we characterize the spatiotemporal variations of extreme rainfall climatologies across the SiP. Then, using the reanalysis datasets, synoptic systems responsible for the occurrence of extreme precipitation events along with the major tracks of cyclones during the wet and dry periods are described. Our results indicate that trends and spatial patterns of the rainfall events across the region are inconsistent in time and space. The highest precipitation percentiles (∼20 mm per month), frequencies (∼15 d per month with rainfall ≥10 mm d−1), standard deviations (∼9 mm month per month), and monthly ratios (∼18 %) are estimated in the northern and northeastern parts of the region during the wet period, especially in early winter; also, a substantial below-average precipitation condition (drier trend) is clearly observed in most parts except for the south. Mediterranean cyclones accompanied by the Red Sea and Persian troughs are responsible for the majority of extreme rainfall events year-round. A remarkable spatial relationship is found between SiP's rainfall and the atmospheric variables of sea level pressure, wind direction, and vertical velocity. A cyclone-tracking analysis indicates that 125 cyclones (with rainfall ≥10 mm d−1) formed within, or transferred to, the Mediterranean basin and precipitated over the SiP during wet periods compared to 31 such cyclones during dry periods. It is estimated around 15 % of cyclones with sufficient rainfall >40 mm d−1 would be capable of leading to flash floods during the wet period. This study, therefore, sheds new light on the extreme precipitation characteristics over the SiP and its association with dominant synoptic-scale mechanisms over the eastern Mediterranean region.