Pietras et al. (2025) Extreme Short-Duration Rainfall and Urban Flood Hazard: Case Studies of Convective Events in Warsaw and Zamość, Poland

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-09-09
• Authors: Bartłomiej Pietras, Robert Pyrc
• DOI: 10.3390/w17182671

Research Groups

• Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW-PIB)

Short Summary

This study evaluated the meteorological background, intensity, and spatial characteristics of two extreme convective rainfall events in Poland in August 2024. It found that both events exceeded national and international criteria for torrential rainfall, with the Zamość event being exceptionally intense (88.3 mm in one hour), driven by specific convective organization patterns.

Objective

• To evaluate the meteorological background, intensity, and spatial characteristics of two short-duration extreme convective rainfall events that struck Poland in August 2024.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Poland (specifically Warsaw (Okęcie) and Zamość).
• Temporal Scale: August 2024 (19 August and 21 August), focusing on short-duration events (e.g., 1 hour, 3 hours).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not explicitly mentioned for analysis; analysis relied on classification indices (Chomicz α index, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) thresholds).
• Data sources: High-resolution meteorological observations, radar imagery, satellite data provided by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW-PIB).

Main Results

• Both extreme convective rainfall events (Warsaw, 19 August; Zamość, 21 August) exceeded national and international criteria for torrential rainfall.
• In Zamość, 88.3 mm of rain fell within one hour, and 131.3 mm within three hours, ranking this episode among the most intense short-duration rainfall events in the region.
• Convective organization patterns, including multicellular clustering and convective training, were identified as key factors enhancing rainfall intensity.
• The study demonstrated the diagnostic value of combining national indices (Chomicz α index) with global benchmarks (WMO thresholds) in rainfall assessment.

Contributions

• Provides a detailed diagnostic assessment of two recent, highly intense, short-duration convective rainfall events in Poland.
• Highlights the effectiveness of combining national and international classification indices for robust extreme rainfall evaluation.
• Supports the integration of convection-permitting models and real-time nowcasting into urban hydrometeorological warning systems based on observed event characteristics.

Funding

• Not mentioned in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Pietras2025Extreme,
  author = {Pietras, Bartłomiej and Pyrc, Robert},
  title = {Extreme Short-Duration Rainfall and Urban Flood Hazard: Case Studies of Convective Events in Warsaw and Zamość, Poland},
  journal = {Water},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/w17182671},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/w17182671}
}