The role of teleconnections in extreme (high and low) precipitation events: The case of the Mediterranean region

During the last years large-scale climatic indices, such as North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), have been used to describe a certain portion of climatic variability in different temporal and spatial scales. In this context, the climate in the Mediterranean region has been mainly correlated with the NAO index, while there is also some evidence for seasonal associations with the South Asian Monsoon (SAM) during the summer, and the Siberian High during the winter. Here, we explore the possible links between extreme (high and low) precipitation events in the Mediterranean basin and several large-scale climatic indices, such as these mentioned above and also East Atlantic Pattern, Scandinavia Pattern, Polar/Eurasia Pattern, West Africa Monsoon Index and Siberian High. In order to achieve that, we use precipitation data from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) and index data from National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA).