Bora wind and heavy persistent precipitation: atmospheric water balance and role of air-sea fluxes over the Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic basin is regularly affected by cold, strong and gusty bora winds blowing from the northeast, especially during winter. These events are characterized by intense air-sea interactions and produce important meteorological effects not only over the eastern Adriatic basin, where bora originates and attains its maximum intensity, but also downstream over the Italian peninsula where heavy rainfall and snowfall can occur. The present study aims at evaluating the impact of surface fluxes of sensible and latent heat, that characterize air-sea interaction during a bora episode, on wind strength and profiles over the Adriatic Sea, in relation to intense precipitation affecting the Apennines and the Italian coast. High-resolution numerical simulations are used in order to assess the role of surface fluxes in modulating the atmospheric water balance, modifying the thermodynamic characteristic of the boundary layer and, in turn, the dynamics of the orographic flow regime.