NUMERICAL-SIMULATION OF AN EXTREME RAINFALL EVENT IN CATALONIA - ROLEOF OROGRAPHY AND EVAPORATION FROM THE SEA

During the evening of 12 November 1988, heavy rainfall occurred in Cat alonia (north-east Spain); as a result there was flooding and heavy lo ss. In this paper we present a 12-hour numerical simulation of that ev ent by means of a meso-beta scale numerical model. The results show th at the model is capable of giving the localization of observed precipi tation satisfactorily, but it underestimates the amount of rainfall. O ther numerical experiments were done to show the effects of orography and evaporation from the Mediterranean. The effect of orography is dec isive as regards the spatial structure of precipitation over land, sin ce it acts to concentrate the precipitation in the coastal zone. The e ffect of evaporation from the sea is very weak, probably on account of the shortness of the simulation.