Heat and cold waves at the South of the Russian Far East in 1999-2017

Abstract

Threshold values of 3% and 97% percentiles of annual distribution of mean daily temperature are used to determine the cold and heat waves, respectively, for weather stations in the southern part of the Russian Far East for the period from December 1999 to 2017. Cold waves are identified mainly in December and January. The coldest winter seasons with the longest cold waves, up to 11 days, were observed in 2000/2001 and 2012/2013; the maximum total excess of negative temperatures over the threshold value was 116°C in weather station Poliny Osipenko. Heat waves were registered mainly in July. The hottest summer was in 2011, when heat wave was observed during July and August, with the longest wave at the northern Nikolaevsk-on-Amur; the maximum total excess of positive temperatures over the threshold was 74°C in Poliny Osipenko. There was no clear trend in the inter-annual dynamics of mean temperatures of winter and summer, but temperature variations can reach ±6°C and ±4, respectively. Climate extremes vary significantly during the study period, but usually rarely go beyond two standard deviations. Taking into account the possible impact of extreme temperatures on human health, their effect on the increase of mortality in Khabarovsk is discussed.