Mrs Mozhgan Shahriyari, Dr Mostafa Karampoor, Dr Hoshang Ghaemi, Dr Dariush Yarahmadi, Dr Mohammad Moradi,
Volume 11, Issue 1 (5-2024)
Abstract
Flash floods are one of the most dangerous natural events and often cause loss of life and damage to infrastructure and the environment. This research investigated the occurrence of the most intense continuous monthly floods (October-March) from 1989 to 2021. Precipitation data from 115 synoptic stations were selected. Then, the total rainfall of 1 to 9 days was sorted according to intensity. Using Minitab statistical software and the Andersen-Darling index, heavy rains were extracted based on the 95th percentile. Then, based on the criteria of the highest and lowest number of rainy days, the highest and lowest accumulated rainfall, the wettest and driest months were determined. Considering the three criteria of intensity, continuity, and rainfall coverage, the strongest storms in the wettest months were selected. The data used for synoptic analysis include the average sea level pressure data, the height and vertical component of the wind at 500 hPa, the wind and humidity field specific to the pressure levels 925, 850, and 700 hPa, and the horizontal moisture flux values specific to the pressure level 925, 850 and 700 hPa. The probability of the occurrence of atmospheric rivers was identified by the moisture flux extracted from the specific, meridional, and meridional wind components. The results showed that the storms of October 27-31, 2015, November 5-7, 1994, December 12-16, 1991, January 11-15, 2004, February 3-9, 1993, and March 13-15, 1996 were the strongest in the wettest months. During the storms of October, November, February, and March, moisture has been transported from the southwest of the Red Sea by atmospheric rivers to the western, southwestern, southern, and southeastern regions of Iran.
