Extreme Convection vs. Extreme Rainfall: a Global View

Purpose of Review There is concern that extreme weather events may become stronger, more frequent, or both as the climate changes. This paper seeks more clarity in defining different types of extreme storms, and the global distribution of each type. Recent Findings Detailed case studies of specific events over the United States are revealing but the only way to document such occurrences globally is by using radar profiles from the GPM core satellite. Recent results differ somewhat depending on specific definitions and approaches, but they are starting to converge. Summary We demonstrate the global distribution of the ~ 1000 most extreme events of each type over a 5-year period and find that in addition to testing for extreme rain rates and extremely intense convection, we must also differentiate by size. Large rain areas containing extreme rates are exclusively oceanic, small rain areas often have extreme rates over land. The most intense convective cores are almost exclusively over land, regardless of size.