Changes in total precipitation, rainy days and extreme events in northeastern Italy

A new daily precipitation dataset, for the period 1920 - 1998, comprising s even stations located in the northeastern Italy is presented. Seasonal and annual precipitation and number of rainy days have been analys ed and a study aimed at investigating precipitation intensity and extreme e vents has been performed. Precipitation intensity has been analysed through studying both the mean precipitation amount per wet day and dividing preci pitation into heavy and non-heavy classes. In addition, the return period o f the extreme events has been calculated for 30-year running windows and it s variations have been examined. The results show a negative trend in the number of wet days associated with an increase in the contribution of heavy rainfall events to total precipit ation. This is in agreement with a reduction in return period for extreme e vents since 1920. Copyright (C) 2001 Royal Meteorological Society.