Reduction of high impact weather effects passes through an efficient hazard forecasting capability as well as through an effective risk communication and adaptation. Hazard forecasting capability, moreover, should take into account not only pure atmospheric aspects of high impact weather events, but even their connection with the hydrological as well as biological and anthropic systems.
In line with the EMS/ECAM-2015 theme, this session on Atmospheric Hazards will encourage the exchange of expertise and experiences related to the various topics (listed below) connected to hazardous atmospheric phenomena, including sudden and rapid events occurring at small scales, and their impacts. An interdisciplinary approach will be particularly welcome. Potential topics, among others, for this session are:

• Flash-floods and heavy rain events;
• Storm-surges and atmospheric driven marine hazards;
• Hail;
• Freezing rain, icing and intense snow falls;
• Cold/heat events, even occurring at small time scales;
• Fog;
• Tornadoes, waterspouts, derechos and downbursts;
• Severe wind storms;
• Intense Mediterranean cyclones;
• Tropical like cyclones;
• Lightning;
• Polar lows, their evolution and impacts;
• Severe katabatic or foehn winds;
• Gap and orographic flows;
• Breaking of gravity waves, as well as severe turbulence;

Contributions dealing with remote sensing, in particular those related to satellite and RADAR products, will be extremely welcome because of their intrinsic capability to cover broader areas and to supply stakeholders the tailored forecasting products for risk management. For the same reason, contributions dealing with modeling, both numerical and conceptual, are particularly welcome.

Contributions dealing with studies of specific episodes (case studies) are welcome provided they are relevant and archetypical for the area which was affected by those events. On a general level, all contributors are encouraged to spring out from their work, overarching aspects that might be of interest even outside of the field where the research was carried out.

The above-listed topics are of course not exclusive and the session’s Conveners wait to be surprised by new ideas and approaches, sprung out from Authors inventiveness and related to high impact weather events.