Abstract
The variability of occurrence of snow cover and the impact of atmospheric circulation on the snow cover occurrence in the period 1966/1967–2019/2020 in Poznań (Poland) have been examined. The implementation of the primary study objective covers the comprehensive analysis of the winter snow and thermal conditions using various indicators. This paper is based on daily data from the years 1966–2020 concerning the winter period. Winters in Poznań are highly variable and differentiated, considering the duration of particular seasons, number of days with snow cover, mean snow cover thickness, winter snowiness coefficient, or winter severity index. Negative trends concerning days with snow cover total snow cover depth winter snowiness coefficient and winter severity index in Poznań prove statistically significant. A higher probability of occurrence of snow cover was determined during cyclonic than anticyclonic circulation. The westerly and northerly types especially favoured the occurrence of days with snow cover. The increase of snow cover was associated with the northerly inflow mainly. Westerly types of circulation caused the decrease of snow cover predominantly.
Highlights
Snow cover is the most sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation. It is considered as a good indi‐ cator of climate change
Snow cover in Europe is primarily related to air temperature, whereas the effect of precipitation on snow cover is less obvious, mostly because the ratio of snowfall to precipitation is strongly determined by air tem‐ perature (Feng and Hu 2007)
The dependency of temperature on snow cover activates one of the strongest feedback effects related to climate changes, because due to its high albedo
Summary
Snow cover is the most sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation. It is considered as a good indi‐ cator of climate change. The dependency of temperature on snow cover activates one of the strongest feedback effects related to climate changes, because due to its high albedo, According to the classification of Paczos (1982), winters with little snow occur most frequently in Poland, and very high both temporal and spatial variability of snow cover is a characteristic phenomenon. This variability is manifested in several episodes of development and decline of snow cover during a single winter season, as well as high instability of the cover thickness and properties, determining its thermal isolation and hydrological role (Czarnecka 2011)
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