Return periods of summer-time sea storms in the central Mediterranean Sea

From an analysis of wave data from the Italian buoy network we obtain the probability of exceedance of the significant wave height in the summer-time. Then the return period of the summer storms in which the significant wave height exceeds some fixed threshold is obtained by means of Boccotti's equation. Summer waves prove to be much smaller off the Italian south-eastern coast then off the Italian western coast. The return periods obtained in the paper are useful for the design of facilities such as barriers against pollution and mucilage and removable moorings for yachts and sailboats which are used only in summer.