Ghelli, A. (Dept. of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK)
Hodges, K.I. (ESSC, University of Reading, UK)
Lee cyclogenesis is an important phenomenon in the Mediterranean region. Evidence of this can be found on maps of cyclogenesis frequency for the Northern Hemisphere winter which show a maximum in frequency in the Mediterranean. Models have been used to understand the dynamical aspects of lee-cyclogenesis. We propose to construct a climatology of cyclogenesis, and analyse other statistics like cyclolysis frequency, mean strength and growth rate in such a sensitive area. An automatic tracking algorithm has been used to identify and follow cyclones in the ECMWF re-analysis data for the period 1981-1991 in the Mediterranean. Cyclones are defined as maxima in relative vorticity at 850 mb. The variability in cyclogenesis is also explored. The cyclone statistics might be related to other tradicional diagnostic fields.