Numerical simulation of a downburst event in the Mediterranean using a full-cloud model

Following up the results of Project THUNDERR, the goal of this work is to analyse the thunderstorm formation mechanism in the Mediterranean and the thunderstorm outflows interaction with complex orography by means of a cloud model. Accordingly, simulations with the Bryan Cloud Model Version 1 (CM1) are performed for the thunderstorm event that hit the city of Genoa on August 14, 2018, which produced a downburst while approaching the coastline. Both the role of sea surface temperature (SST) in thunderstorm generation as well as the orographic influence on the surface wind fields are investigated numerically. The simulations show a longer-lasting thunderstorm cell and more sustained updraft due to the orography, as well as higher values of reflectivity at lower altitudes in the troposphere.