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Volume 13
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10.3390/atmos13030475
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Article

Meteorological Analysis of the 2021 Extreme Wildfires in Greece: Lessons Learned and Implications for Early Warning of the Potential for Pyroconvection

by
Theodore M. Giannaros
1,*,
Georgios Papavasileiou
1,
Konstantinos Lagouvardos
1,
Vassiliki Kotroni
1,
Stavros Dafis
1,2,
Athanasios Karagiannidis
1 and
Eleni Dragozi
1
1
National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, Lofos Koufou, 15236 Penteli, Greece
2
Data4Risk, 75015 Paris, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Atmosphere 2022, 13(3), 475; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13030475
Submission received: 22 February 2022 / Revised: 8 March 2022 / Accepted: 12 March 2022 / Published: 14 March 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Meteorology: Observations and Modeling from Micro- to Meso- Scale)
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Abstract

The 2021 fire season in Greece was the worst of the past 13 years, resulting in more than 130,000 ha of burnt area, with about 70% consumed by five wildfires that ignited and spread in early August. Common to these wildfires was the occurrence of violent pyroconvection. This work presents a meteorological analysis of this outbreak of extreme pyroconvective wildfires. Our analysis shows that dry and warm antecedent weather preconditioned fuels in the fire-affected areas, creating a fire environment that alone could effectively support intense wildfire activity. Analysis of surface conditions revealed that the ignition and the most active spread of all wildfires coincided with the most adverse fire weather since the beginning of the fire season. Further, the atmospheric environment was conducive to violent pyroconvection, as atmospheric instability gradually increased amid the breakdown of an upper-air ridge ahead of an approaching long-wave trough. In summary, we highlight that the severity and extent of the 2021 Greek wildfires were not surprising considering the fire weather potential for the period when they ignited. Continuous monitoring of the large- and local-scale conditions that promote extreme fire behavior is imperative for improving Greece’s capacity for managing extreme wildfires.
Keywords: extreme fire behavior; fire weather; pyroconvection; flammability; early warning; August 2021; Greece; Mediterranean extreme fire behavior; fire weather; pyroconvection; flammability; early warning; August 2021; Greece; Mediterranean

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MDPI and ACS Style

Giannaros, T.M.; Papavasileiou, G.; Lagouvardos, K.; Kotroni, V.; Dafis, S.; Karagiannidis, A.; Dragozi, E. Meteorological Analysis of the 2021 Extreme Wildfires in Greece: Lessons Learned and Implications for Early Warning of the Potential for Pyroconvection. Atmosphere 2022, 13, 475. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13030475

AMA Style

Giannaros TM, Papavasileiou G, Lagouvardos K, Kotroni V, Dafis S, Karagiannidis A, Dragozi E. Meteorological Analysis of the 2021 Extreme Wildfires in Greece: Lessons Learned and Implications for Early Warning of the Potential for Pyroconvection. Atmosphere. 2022; 13(3):475. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13030475

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giannaros, Theodore M., Georgios Papavasileiou, Konstantinos Lagouvardos, Vassiliki Kotroni, Stavros Dafis, Athanasios Karagiannidis, and Eleni Dragozi. 2022. "Meteorological Analysis of the 2021 Extreme Wildfires in Greece: Lessons Learned and Implications for Early Warning of the Potential for Pyroconvection" Atmosphere 13, no. 3: 475. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13030475

APA Style

Giannaros, T. M., Papavasileiou, G., Lagouvardos, K., Kotroni, V., Dafis, S., Karagiannidis, A., & Dragozi, E. (2022). Meteorological Analysis of the 2021 Extreme Wildfires in Greece: Lessons Learned and Implications for Early Warning of the Potential for Pyroconvection. Atmosphere, 13(3), 475. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13030475

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