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This study examines the simulation of three torrential rain events observed on 13–14 October 1995 (the Cévennes case), 12–13 November 1999 (the Aude case) and 8–9 September 2002 (the Gard case) over the southeastern part of France using the Meso‐NH non‐hydrostatic mesoscale numerical model. These cases were associated with extreme Heavy Precipitation Events (HPEs) with significant precipitation amounts exceeding 500 mm in less than 24 hours. Several sets of numerical experiments were performed with 10 km and 2.5 km horizontal resolutions. In part I of this study, special attention is paid to the experimental design for obtaining realistic simulations of HPEs with the Meso‐NH model, as well as the evolution of the synoptic patterns in which the rainfall events are embedded.

The best 2.5 km numerical simulations show the ability of the Meso‐NH model to reproduce significant quasi‐stationary …