Abstract
Flash floods are phenomena in which the important hydrologic processes are occurring on the same spatial and temporal scales as the intense precipitation. To date, the time required for appropriate public response has typically been much longer than the time between the causative precipitation and the subsequent flash flood. The impact of a flash flood is primarily related to the sudden increase in level and velocity of floodwater, rather than the peak level and velocity, or the final duration and extent of the floodwater. The impact of rapidly evolving precipitation systems on the complex hydrologic processes of fast-response basins makes the flash flood phenomenon a particularly challenging forecast problem.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abbott, M.B., Bathurst, J.C., Cunge, JA, O’Connel, P.E., and Rasmussen, J. (1986) An introduction to the European Hydrologic System-Systeme Hydrologique European, “SHE,” 1, History and philosophy of a physically-based distributed modeling system, J. Hydrol., 87, 45–59.
Alonso, R.R. (1998) Estudio Meteorologico de la situacion del 7 de Agosto de 1996 (Biescas). Serie Monografias, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Centro de Publicaciones, Secretaria General Tecnica, Spain.
American Meteorological Society (AMS) (1990) Radar in Meteorology: Battan Memorial and 40. Anniversary Radar Meteorology Conference, David Atlas (ed.), AMS, Boston, MA, USA.
Baeck, M.L. and Smith, J.A (1998) Rainfall estimation by the WSR-88D for heavy rainfall events. Weather and Forecasting, 13, 416–436.
Baldini, L., Facheris, L., Giuli, D., Caporali, E., and Palmisano, E. (1995) Analysis of radar and raingage measurements for a critical meteorological event in Tuscany. Surveys in Geophysics 16, 253:264.
Becchi, I., Caporali, E., and Palmisano, E. (1994) Hydrological response to radar rainfall maps through a distributed model. Natural Hazards 9, 95:108.
Becchi, I.8, Caporali, E., Castellani, L., Palmisano, E., and Castelli, F. (1995) Hydrological control of flooding: Tuscany, October 1992. Surveys in Geophysics 16, 227:252.
Beven, K. and O’Connel, P.E. (1982) On the role of distributed models in hydrology, Rep. 81, Inst. of Hydrol., Wallingford, U. K.
Beven, K. (1985) Distributed models, in Hydrological Forecasting, ed. by M. G. Anderson and T. P. Burt, 405–435, John Wiley, New York.
Beven, K. (1989) Changing ideas in hydrology - The case of physically-based models, J. of Hydra, 105, 157–172.
Caparrini, F., Caporali, E., and Profeti, G. (1998) Application of Landsat TM data to evaluate soil hydrological status in the Arno basin, Italy: preliminary results. Atti dell’ European Symposium on Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology, SPIE Proceedings Series 3499, 52:57.
Chow, V.T., Maidment, D.R., and Mays. L.W. (1988) Applied hydrology. McGraw Hill.
Davis, R.S. (1997) The integration of the Areal Mean Basin Estimated Rainfall (AMBER) flash flood warning system with automated rain gage data. Preprints, l st Symposium on Integrated Observing Systems, American Meteorological Society, 189–196.
Davis, R.S. (2000) Detecting flash floods on small urban watersheds. Preprints, 15 th Conference on Hydrology, American Meteorological Society, 233–236.
Doesken, N.J. and McKee, T.B. (1998) An analysis of rainfall for the July 28, 1997 flood in Fort Collins, Colorado. Climatology Report 98–1, Colorado Sate University, Fort Collins, CO, 55 pp.
Kelsch, M. (1998) The Fort Collins flash flood: exceptional rainfall and urban runoff. Preprints 19 th Conference on Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society, 404–407.
La Barbera, P., Lanza, L., Minciardi, R., and Paolucci, M. (1996) A decision support system for optimum use of multisensor information in flood forecasting. Remote Sensing Reviews, 14(1–3), 229–250.
Lanza, L., Stagi, L., La Barbera, P., and Lombardo, F. (1999) On the influence of measuring errors over rainfall statistics and extremes. EGS XXIV General Assembly, The Hague, 19–23. Geophys. Res. Abs., 1(2), 346.
Lanza, L. and La Barbera, P. (2000) Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting and hydro-meteorological warnings in the Mediterranean region. In Parker, D.J. (editor) Flood Hazards and Disasters. Routledge Series on Natural Hazards and Disasters, Routledge.
Maddox, R.A., Hoxit, L.R., Chappel, C.F., and Caracena, F. (1978) Comparison of the meteorological aspects of the Big Thompson and Rapid City flash floods. Monthly Weather Review, 106, 375–389.
Maddox, R.A., Chappel, C.F. and Hoxit, L.R. (1979) Synoptic and meso-alpha scale aspects of flash flood events. Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 60, 115–123.
Maddox, R.A., Hoxit, L.R., and Canova, F. (1980) Meteorological characteristics of heavy precipitation and flash flood events over the western United States. NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL APCL-23, Boulder, CO, 87 pp.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1988) Meteorological analysis of the Cheyenne, Wyoming flash flood and hailstorm of 1 August 1985. NOAA Technical Report ERL 435-FSL 1, Boulder, CO, 51 pp.
Rosso R. (1994) An Introduction to spatially distributed modeling of basin response. Selected Paper from the International Workshop “Advances in Distributed Hydrology.” Water Resources Publications 3:30.
Schwartz, B.E., Chappel, C.F., Togstad, W.E., and Zhong, X. (1990) The Minneapolis flash flood: meteorological analysis and operational response. Weather and Forecasting, 5, 3–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kelsch, M., Caporali, E., Lanza, L.G. (2001). Hydrometeorology of Flash Floods. In: Gruntfest, E., Handmer, J. (eds) Coping With Flash Floods. NATO Science Series, vol 77. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0918-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0918-8_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6826-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0918-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive