Highlights on Extreme Meteorological Events in Sicily

The aim of this paper is to analyze the reasons for which the rainfall accumulations in Sicily do not follow the downward trend observed in the period from 1921 to 2002, but, mostly in the last ten years, show a substantial increase. The analysis has been performed by applying sta tistical methods to a wide ensemble of collected meteorological data. The observed increase of rainfall rates has been connected both to the “global warming”(according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the year 2015 promises globally the warmest from the beginning of the records) and to the positive thermal anomalies of Mediterranean sea which give rise to a frequency and intensity rise of severe meteorological events. From the present study it clearly emerges that, in order to forecas t such severe events with sufficient advance, it is important to classify such phenomena as well as to monitor the contest environmental conditions that generate them.