The Red‐Sea Trough (RST) extends toward the Levant from the south and is mostly associated with dry conditions. This study analysed the rarer type, rain‐producing RSTs, referred to as ‘wet RSTs’ (WRST), using data from 1958 to 2019. A WRST archive was established, based on rain data from a study region covering the arid part of Israel, the region where this system is most active. The study also aimed to find an atmospheric pro...

Using the ERA‐20C reanalysis and CRU TS4.03 observation based data, the study indicates a role of the rise in October–March mean seasonal surface pressure over the Near East (NE) in an intensification of moist air mass transport from Africa into the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) region during the last several decades. This yet non‐addressed relevant mechanism allows an explanation for the actual less intense than over the rest of...

The katabatic winds have been studied over the slopes surrounding the Dead Sea (DS, in brevity), located at altitude of 433 m below sea level focusing on the summer season when the katabatic winds are most frequent, persistent and pronounced due to the summer stable weather conditions. The study observes the katabatic wind pulses, which are intermittent, via 3‐D innovative measurement tools with high time and space resolution...

The precipitable water vapour (PWV) of 21 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) ground receivers from the Survey Of Israel Active Permanent Network (SOI‐APN) in the Eastern Mediterranean area are processed and analysed. We focus on the annual cycles, inter‐annual variations and long‐term trends. The PWV monthly mean values peak during September–October where October has the highest variability for all stations. PWV values...

This study examines the problematic impact of selecting a different base period (colder 1961–1990 vs. warmer 1988–2017), on the trend magnitude of widely used percentile‐based extreme temperature indices (e.g., warm/cold spells, warm/cold days and nights). The percentile‐based indices are part of a core set of indices (27 in total) that have become a common standard for monitoring climate change, as recommended by the Expert T...

The Red Sea trough (RST) is a low‐pressure trough extending from south towards the Levant. Unlike previous synoptic classifications covering all systems that affect the region, our algorithm focuses on the RST alone. It uses sea‐level pressure (SLP) and relative geostrophic vorticity for identifying the existence of an RST and classifying it to one of three types, according to the location of the trough axis with respect to 35...

Global climate models provide only partial information on local‐scale phenomenon, such as precipitation, primarily due to their coarse resolution. In this study, statistical downscaling algorithms, based on both weather regimes and past analogues, are operated for 18 Israeli rain gauges with an altitude ranging between −200 and ~1,000 m above sea level (ASL). To project seasonal precipitation over Israel and its hydrologic bas...

This study examines the 1950–2017 temporal changes in climate extremes in Israel, which is located in the East Mediterranean (EM), a region which suffers from a scarcity of long and reliable datasets. It is well known that most long‐term records are affected by artificial shifts most commonly caused by station relocation, instrumental modification and local environmental changes. Therefore, for the first time, a thorough homog...

High‐resolution climate projections over Israel (about 8 km) have been obtained with the regional model COSMO‐CLM, nested into the CORDEX‐MENA simulations at 25 km resolution. This simulation provides high‐resolution spatial variability of total precipitation and precipitation intensity. Projections are presented not only in terms of average properties, but also using a subset of extreme temperature and precipitation indices f...

Climate trends analyses are studied through the analysis of long‐term records which usually are compromised by artificial non‐climatic factors (e.g., station relocation, instrumental replacements, etc). The impact of these factors on the analysis must be assessed and corrected in a procedure called “Homogenization,” before computing any trends. An unbiased analysis is essential for the East Mediterranean climate change, which...

The eastern Mediterranean (EM) is expected to be influenced by climate changes that will significantly affect ecosystems, human health and socio‐economic aspects. One aspect of climate change in this vulnerable area is the length of the seasons, especially that of the rainy winter season against the warm and dry summer. Here, the synoptic seasons’ definition of Alpert, Osetinsky, Ziv, and Shafir (2004a) was applied to an ensem...

An evaluation of 23 models, participating in the Coupled Model Inter‐comparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5), in representing extreme precipitation indices (EPI), over the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) and the Fertile Crescent (FC), was performed. The models ensemble was then used to predict the EPIs evolution in the 21st century under (Representative Concentration Pathway, RCP) RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Models' performance was det...

The Mediterranean has been recognized as a ‘hot spot’, currently influenced by climate change, and predicted to be strongly affected in the future by significant warming and drying. This trend is expected to be expressed in changes in the occurrence and intensity of Mediterranean cyclones, in general, and of East Mediterranean (EM), i.e. Cyprus Lows (CL), in particular, as well as in the occurrence of all other synoptic system...

The Regional Climate Model (RCM) COSMO‐CLM capability to reproduce the climate characteristics, including extreme values, over the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) was tested. Model configuration has been chosen based on a previously performed sensitivity analysis, aimed to ascertain the accuracy of model performances over Israel. Three simulations driven by ERA Interim reanalysis data for 1979–2011 have been performed using the 0.4...