Open AccessAssessment of the return period of near‐PMP point and catchment rainfall for England and Wales
Author(s) -
Collier Chris G.,
Morris David G.,
Jones David A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1002/met.191
Subject(s) - thunderstorm , storm , precipitation , environmental science , return period , convective storm detection , mesoscale meteorology , climatology , drainage basin , meteorology , catchment area , hydrology (agriculture) , geography , geology , flood myth , cartography , geotechnical engineering , archaeology
The return periods of sub‐daily rainfall events approaching Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) have been estimated for point locations and catchment areas using the assumptions made in a previously published storm model. It has been assumed that PMP of around 12 h duration is the result of severe thunderstorms for catchments up to about 200 km 2 and of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) for larger catchments. The analysis suggests return periods ranging from around 1 in 10 000 years for point locations to 1 in 500 000 years for large catchments, though these are very dependent on the assumptions. The results are compared with estimates from a number of other sources. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society