MM5 real-time forecast of a catastrophic event on May, 5, 1998

In this paper the operational MM5 system is presented. A case of heavy prec ipitation causing a landslide and severe damages over the Campania region i s described. A comparison with high-resolution 24 h accumulated rainfall ov er two areas is discussed and an evaluation of the rainfall forecast is car ried out. The precipitation over both the disaster area and Abruzzo are wel l forecasted; the results show that the high variability of the precipitati on is well forecasted using a high-resolution mesoscale model.