The case of the 'Malda' Anomaly in the Western Mediterranean basin (AD 1760-1800): An example of a strong climatic variability

The study of climatic anomalies on the basis of various types of instrumental information and proxy-data allows unusual events to be identified. The objective of this paper is to introduce and explain a hydrometeorological anomaly that occurred between 1760 and 1800 (Malda Anomaly), characterised by a sequence of both anomalous droughts and floods, and to compare it with the features of the second part of the 20th century. Firstly, some climatic indices obtained from proxy-data ( mainly documentary sources) have been generated. Secondly, instrumental observations made in earlier times, in conjunction with data from the bibliography, have been used in order to relate this period to the different circulation patterns and to analyse the geographical extension of the anomaly. The results confirm the presence of considerable variations in the atmospheric action centres, especially between 1780 and 1795, which in the Western Mediterranean gave rise to a simultaneous increase in the frequency of droughts and heavy rainfalls, either having nothing comparable or sharing similarities with periods in the 19th and 20th centuries.