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Description
Meteorological background
In the days leading up to the sea-level peak in Bakar, several intense cyclones crossed the Adriatic, causing variable winds and multiple episodes of strong, prolonged SE and S winds. This cyclonic activity was driven by a vast upper-level trough spanning from Greenland to North Africa and extending to Russia, with southwesterly flow on its leading edge bringing warm air from northern Africa to the Adriatic. On 25 December, the Adriatic was strongly influenced by a cyclone over northern Italy with a central pressure of 995 hPa. Another cyclone, previously centered in the Bay of Biscay on 24 December (975 hPa), moved northeast over France and Germany by 25 December. These cyclones, along with a large anticyclone in eastern Europe, created a strong pressure gradient across the continent. This gradient caused persistent strong southeasterly winds over the Adriatic region for several days.
Sea-level evolution
On 25 December 2009 at 01:00 UTC, the sea level in Bakar reached 103 cm above the long-term mean. The overall maximum was reached during the daily tidal peak; tide contributed 20 cm to the flood. This episode was influenced by the natural basin oscillations (~21.5 hours), initially triggered on 19 December and reinforced on 23 December. As a result, synoptic component included both storm surges and free basin-wide oscillations. The seiche was in phase with storm surge, amplifying its impact. The overall sea-level maximum coincided with the peak of the synoptic component, which contributed 34 cm.
The remaining sea-level rise resulted from processes acting on other time scales (refer to Figure 1 in the Introduction for detailed explanations): contribution of local processes was small (3 cm), long-period sea-level variability added 21 cm, and mean sea-level changes added 25 cm.
The flood can be attributed to a positive superposition of all processes but above all to the synoptic component, which was dominated by free basin oscillations.
Due to two days of heavy rainfall, an extraordinary flood protection measure was activated in the Rijeka region at three o’clock in the morning. Firefighters worked throughout the night to pump out the excess water and remove a fallen tree. A bridge in the town center of Äavle was flooded, resulting in the closure of a local road and the blockage of several dead-end streets along the RjeÄina River. The swollen RjeÄina River also spilled into the city center of Rijeka, causing flooding of basements that affected a fitness center and a supermarket. Outside the city center, the Kantrida soccer stadium was completely flooded making the stadium look like a muddy pool. Despite a gradual reduction in turbidity indicated by water quality analysis, it was still advisable to boil the water for drinking purposes.
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