We investigate the spatial and temporal variability of extreme precipitation events (EPEs) in the Dronning Maud Land (DML) sector of Antarctica using high-resolution ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis data. This study examines the spatial occurrence of EPEs across DML, focusing particularly on six locations spanning the coastal and interior parts of the area. The largest snowfall amounts are usually found on eastward-facing slopes in the coastal zone. EPEs occur predominantly in north-easterly to easterly flows, leading to enhanced precipitation on the windward side of the orographic features with a steep gradient. Wind during EPEs was found to be more directionally consistent in the coastal area than in the interior. An east-west couplet of a mid-tropospheric ridge and low-pressure center is essential for steering warm moist maritime airmasses into the DML region before EPEs. Approximately 40% of EPEs result from atmospheric rivers (ARs), narrow bands of moist air originating at subtropical latitudes, which provide the greatest daily precipitation amounts. From 1979 to 2018, much of the DML experienced a statistically significant (p < 0.05) increase in the number of EPEs per year, along with increased precipitation from the EPEs. These trends were associated with significant changes in moisture availability and poleward meridional winds in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. The inter-annual variability in the number of EPEs is primarily dictated by regional atmospheric variability, while the influence of the Southern Oscillation Index and Southern Annular Mode is limited.

We investigate the atmospheric drivers of extreme precipitation over the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) of West Antarctica using daily output from RACMO2 model and re- analysis data (1979-2016). Overall, 93.7% of days with extreme precipitation at the 2 coastal stations of ASE are associated with the 4 dominant Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) modes of geopotential height anomalies (at 850 hPa) over West Antarctica. The second EOF mode, associated with a coupled pattern consisting of Amundsen Sea Low and a blocking high to the east, is the main driver of extreme precipitation over ASE, linked to 44.75% of extreme precipitation days. This is followed by EOF-3 (associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation/PSA-1), EOF-4 (likely associated with more frequent ‘atmospheric river’ events) and EOF-1 (i.e., Southern Annular mode) with a contribution of 22.16%, 21.1% and 12%, respectively. Extreme precipitation linked to EOF-2 and EOF-4 are more intense (by ∼2 mm/day) than the rest.