Analysis of a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone and its sensitivity to the sea surface temperatures

This study investigates an intense tropical-like cyclone which formed south of Sicily on 7 November 2014 and affected the central Mediterranean. The cyclone made landfall at Malta and eastern Sicily. The sustained surface wind speed reached 23.7 m/s (named tropical cyclone strength) at Lampedusa island, while a minimum mean sea-level pressure of 984 hPa was recorded at Malta. Baroclinic instability appeared to be important for its formation since it took place in a region with deep convection and was associated with a pre-existing low-level depression, a baroclinic zone and a dynamic tropopause anomaly. Phase space diagrams determined objectively the symmetry and the warm core structure of the system. The medicane was simulated by the non-hydrostatic WRF-ARW numerical weather prediction model. The role of the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on the development of the medicane was investigated through numerical experiments in which climatological SSTs and uniform warm and cold SST anomalies were imposed. The motivation for such experiments has been provided by the occurrence of warm SST anomalies along its track. A strong medicane, with shorter lifetime, would have developed over the central Mediterranean Sea even if the SSTs were near the normal conditions of November.