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Extreme Precipitation Days

Background Information

The Extreme Precipitation Days index is relevant to agriculture, water management, transport and the urban sector. This Index is based on daily precipitation and is part of the Extreme Precipitation Hazard type of the Wet and Dry category of the classification.

The index gives the number of days in a year with daily total precipitation exceeding the 95th percentile threshold of rainy days of a reference period, here 1981-2010.

A higher/lower value indicates more/less frequent extreme precipitations.

Definition

The count of days in a year with daily precipitation exceeding the 95th percentile threshold of rainy days over a reference period, here the 1981-2010 period (day).

In weather and climate models total precipitation is the flux of water equivalent (rain or snow) reaching the land surface (expressed as kg.m-2.sec-2 and converted to mm day-1). This Index is usually presented as annual, seasonal or monthly cumulated values over the considered period.

Data Sources

The data was assembled on behalf of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) based on climate projections hosted on the C3S Climate Data Store (CDS). The Index is calculated from a set of nine bias-corrected multi-model simulations from the EURO-CORDEX experiment. These simulations have a spatial resolution of 0.25°x0.25°, a 3-hourly output, and cover scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. More information about the dataset can be found in the corresponding CDS documentation resources.

Supporting Information

Further information about this application can be found in the Product User Guide (PUG) of the application in the documentation resources of the CDS. Related information also be found in other sections of the EEA site:

  • The Index based interactive EEA report: Wet and dry - Heavy precipitation and river floods (link).

Data download

The aggregated data shown on the map can be downloaded as csv files.

Visualisation and Navigation

The application has an interactive map on the left side with a set of drop down menus to select the regions (NUTS, Transnational regions or Europe Zones), the time span (Year, Season or Month) and the emission scenario (RCP4.5 or RCP8.5). By clicking on the map, a scrolling panel appears on the right side displaying interactive plots corresponding to spatial and temporal averages over the selected region. Hover over the plots to see the values.

Some plots show an uncertainty envelope representing the range of Likely values, as defined by the IPCC, based on an ensemble of models (see FAQ).


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