## 1 Introduction  
Coastal areas are periodically subject to significant economic and environmental damages due to sea storm-induced processes [1]. Extreme marine storms may result in severe indirect (e.g., land subsidence, water supply contamination, salt intrusion) and direct (e.g., coastal erosion, flooding, vegetation destruction, damage to property and infrastructures) impacts on low-elevation coastal areas [2]. Mediterranean coasts are characterized by a very high population density that induces high social vulnerabilities when coastal infrastructures are directly exposed to wave action [3]. The occurrence of numerous coastal cities, river deltas, islands, low-elevation coastal areas and cliffs over the Mediterranean coastal zone recalls the need for considering local features in coastal planning and possible future impacts associated with climatic change. Today, storms in the Mediterranean Sea are frequent, especially during the winter [4], and their impact on coastal areas can be highly hazardous. A potential increase in hazards due to Mediterranean cyclones, or hurricanes induced by global warming is suggested by several studies [5], which document and predict longer, stronger, and more hazardous tropical-like cyclones associated with stronger winds and rainfall, despite a general decrease in frequency of intense meteoric events. Storm surges may display significant differences in various regions of the Mediterranean, due to the morphology of different areas and the characteristics of individual storms [6]. Several episodes of significant wave height (above 3 m) are often recorded each year in specific sectors of the Mediterranean, such as Lion Gulf and Genoa Gulf [7]. The increasing trends in frequency of Tropical-Like Cyclones (TLC), also referred to as Medicanes (Mediterranean Hurricanes), on the southern-central Mediterranean lead to increased probability for the development of very high storm waves. In recent years, Medicanes \"Qendresa\" that on 7 November 2014 affected Malta and Sicily [8], \"Zorba\" that on 29 September 2018 affected Ionian Sea-Peloponnese (Greece) (see at link: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hco9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hco9) DNoc1 vY]([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hco9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hco9) DNoc1 vY) accessed on 6 September 2021), and \"Ilanos\" that on 18 September 2020 affected Ionian Sea and Western coast of Greece [9] originated huge waves striking the coast. The magnitude of sea surface elevation extremes has increased variably in different Mediterranean regions (mostly Southern Adriatic, Balearic, and Tyrrhenian Sea) during the 21 st century [6]. The Gulf of Naples area (Figure 1) is affected by subtropical dry-summer climate (Mediterranean climate Cs, according to Koppen-Trewartha classification [10]), characterized by dry summers, wet and rainy winters with rainfall amount more than three times compared to the summer period [11]. The surface marine circulation of the Gulf of Naples is mainly dominated by the local wind field [12; 13; 14]. During the winter months, the most intense winds come from the NNE and NE directions. In spring and fall, the main directions are NE and SW, whereas, during summer, winds are generally weaker than the rest of the year [15]. This general wind regime is associated with numerous low-pressure systems passing over the Gulf of Naples area, with frequent thunderstorms and wind events during winter and fall. In contrast, in spring and summer, the presence of the Azores and African anticyclones induces a stable and moderate breeze system [16; 17]. The sea wave characteristics in the Gulf of Naples denotes a strong seasonality, characterized by strong swells in winter and fall and lower wave heights in spring and summer [12; 15; 18]. Based on analysis using of HF radar data, the average wave heights in the inner sub-basins of the Gulf of Naples range from 1.19 m to 1.70 m, whereas the Tyrrhenian offshore areas yield values ranging from 1.77 m to 2.38 m, with typical wave periods between 6 and 8 s [19].