Contrasting seasonal changes in total and intense precipitation in the European Alps from 1903 to 2010

Martin Ménégoz, Evgenia Valla, Nicolas C. Jourdain, Juliette Blanchet, Julien Beaumet, Bruno Wilhelm, Hubert Gallée, Xavier Fettweis, Samuel Morin, and Sandrine Anquetin

Data sets

Climate simulation over the European Alps for the period 1902-2010 produced with the model MAR M. Ménégoz, X. Fettweis, A. Belleflamme, and J. Beaumet https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3674607

The S2M meteorological and snow cover reanalysis in the French mountainous areas (1958–present) M. Vernay, M. Lafaysse, P. Hagenmuller, R. Nheili, D. Verfaillie, and S. Morin https://doi.org/10.25326/37

Short summary

The study investigates precipitation changes in the Alps, using observations and a 7 km resolution climate simulation over 1900–2010. An increase in mean precipitation is found in winter over the Alps, whereas a drying occurred in summer in the surrounding plains. A general increase in the daily annual maximum of precipitation is evidenced (20 to 40 % per century), suggesting an increase in extreme events that is significant only when considering long time series, typically 50 to 80 years.