Climatic Events

Climatic Events

1. Flood: The overflowing by water of the normal confines of a stream or other body of water, or the accumulation of water by drainage over areas which are not normally submerged (source: CCL TT-DEWCE).

2. Heavy precipitation: A marked precipitation event occurring during a period of time of 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h or 48 hours with a total precipitation exceeding a certain threshold defined for a given location (source: CCL TT-DEWCE)5.

3. Hurricane: Name given to a warm core tropical cyclone with maximum surface wind of 118 km/h|~|-1 (64 knots, 74 mph) or greater (hurricane force wind) in the North Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. A tropical cyclone with hurricane force winds in the South Pacific and South-East Indian Ocean (source: International Meteorological Vocabulary, WMO-No. 182).

4. Ice storm: Intense formation of ice on objects by the freezing, on impact, of rain or drizzle (source: International Meteorological Vocabulary, WMO-No. 182).

5. Tsunami: A rapidly moving and often large sea wave generated by submarine earthquakes, landslides or volcanic activity (source: Manual on marine meteorological services, WMO-No. 558, App. 1.2).