Urdiales-Flores, D.; Koukoula, M.; Prein, A.F.; Jan de Vries, A.; Mariéthoz, G.; Bendix, J.; Dominguez, F.; Celleri, R. & Peleg, N. (2026): <b>Are urban impacts on heavy rainfall amplified in mountainous regions?</b>. <i>Environmental Research Letters</i> <b>21</b>(4), 044016.
Resource Description
Title:
Are urban impacts on heavy rainfall amplified in mountainous regions?
FOR816dw ID:
606
Publication Date:
2026-01-01
License and Usage Rights:
Resource Owner(s):
Individual:
Diego Urdiales-Flores
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Marika Koukoula
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Andreas F Prein
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Andries Jan de Vries
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Grégoire Mariéthoz
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Joerg Bendix
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Francina Dominguez
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Rolando Celleri
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Individual:
Nadav Peleg
Contact:
email:
webmaster <at> lcrs.de
Abstract:
Global evidence indicates that orography can exert a strong influence on rainfall, thereby giving rise to natural hazards such as flooding in mountain areas. Alongside orographic influences, urban areas can also act to intensify storms, but their impact on heavy rainfall in high elevations has not yet been investigated in detail. Here, we quantify the contribution of a high-altitude city to both rainfall intensification and its daytime and nighttime patterns, focusing on the city of Cuenca in the Ecuadorian Andes. Modeling several observed storms with and without the city suggests that the urban area can enhance downstream precipitation by over 20% over a pre-existing hotspot of orographically induced precipitation. This urban-induced rainfall intensification seems to exceed that observed for cities of comparable size outside mountainous regions. This may be explained by Cuenca’s valley setting and its high humidity compared to its surroundings, suggesting that high-altitude cities with similar morphologies could amplify combined orographic-dynamic and urban-thermodynamic effects.
Keywords:
| mountainous regions | WRF | Urban Heat Island | convective rainfall intensification | heavy precipitation |
Literature type specific fields:
ARTICLE
Journal:
Environmental Research Letters
Volume:
21
Issue:
4
Page Range:
044016
Publisher:
IOP Publishing
Metadata Provider:
Individual:
Maik Dobbermann
Contact:
email:
dobberma <at> staff.uni-marburg.de
35039 Marburg
Deutschland
Germany
