Overview of extreme weather events, impacts and forecasting techniques

This chapter is dedicated to the overview of extreme weather events and their impacts, as well as the introduction of forecasting concepts and techniques. There are many types of weather extremes that are accompanied by a continuously increasing research literature that contemplates interconnections between human and natural influences, especially with regard to climate change (Robinson, 2021). The events we describe in this chapter are not a complete list. We provide definitions of extreme weather events (Section 1.1) that pose significant societal and economic impacts and are represented by case studies in the chapters that follow. Most of the event types and techniques described here are analyzed further and more extensively in Chapter 2. An overview of current weather forecasting practices is presented in Section 1.2. Furthermore, in this chapter, we provide comprehensive reviews for extreme weather forecasting in urban areas (Section 1.3) and prediction of wildfires (Section 1.4). Urban areas represent scales and complex environments that affect a large part of the population. Wildfires, despite being primarily of natural origin, have a complex relationship with extreme weather conditions and increasingly devastating effects on the built environment and the society. Thus, we need to be able to better understand and predict them accurately in space and time.