Seasonal Synoptic Characteristics of Heavy Rain Events in the Attica Region

The objective of this study is the analysis of heavy precipitation events occurred in Attica region during the period 2007–2013, along with the determination of their characteristics depending on the season and their corresponding impact. These events were selected according to two criteria; the lightning occurrence—information that was acquired from the Hellenic National Meteorological Service Precision Lightning Sensors Network (HNMS-PLN)—and the high rainfall intensity, provided by the Hydrological Observatory of Athens (HOA) rainfall network. On the one hand, the composite means and anomalies of the respective synoptic conditions, which were based on the reanalysis data sets acquired from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR), along with the frontal activity over Greece, have been analyzed. On the other hand, special attention has been given to the configuration of specific instability indices, during the examined rainfall events. The aforementioned study is an effort to shed light to the rainfall events’ features, with respect to their seasonal incidence and their relation to phenomena such as floods and hail.