High-resolution modeling studies of heavy precipitation events

ISAC numerical modeling chain, based on BOLAM and MOLOCH mesoscale models, is applied to study heavy precipitation events over Liguria region. In particular, the convection-permitting model MOLOCH is applied at different spatial resolutions in order to investigate the main dynamical processes responsible for the onset, lifecycle, intensity and localization/propagation of the mesoscale convective systems and to assess the ability of the model in quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) with respect to initial conditions and model horizontal resolution. Moreover, a procedure for assimilating radar rainfall estimate in MOLOCH, based on nudging, is implemented and evaluated over a relevant number of severe weather episodes.