Catalogue of floods recorded at tide-gauge station Bakar in the northeastern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean)

Abstract. Flooding in the northern Adriatic Sea occasionally occurs in late fall and winter as a result of storm surges that combine with other sea-level processes at different spatial and temporal scales. This paper presents (empirical) analysis of the 27 most intense floods recorded at the Croatian tide-gauge station Bakar on the northeastern coast of the Adriatic Sea in the period 1929–2022. Floods were defined as events in which the hourly sea level rose by at least 89 cm (99.99th percentile threshold) above the long-term average. The study examines: (i) the evolution of sea level, analysed through five components: local processes, tide, synoptic component (storm surge and basin-wide seiche), long-period sea-level variability and mean sea-level changes, (ii) the meteorological conditions, based on reanalysis series and fields (mean sea-level pressure, 10-m wind, 500-hPa surface geopotential heights), (iii) the impact of flooding on natural and built environments along the Croatian coastline, and (iv) the relevant scientific literature on these flood episodes. The study is complemented by the online catalogue, which contains supplementary information and is continuously updated with the latest flooding episodes (https://projekti.pmfst.unist.hr/floods/storm-surges/).