Abstract
The research study aimed at assessing multiannual variability of heat wave occurrence in the lowland part of Germany between 1966 and 2015 and determining the role of atmospheric circulation in their occurrence. The analysis was conducted with the use of two independent datasets, that is, the dataset of Germany’s National Meteorological Service, Deutscher Wetterdienst, and American meteorological reanalysis database of the National Centre for Environmental Prediction/National Centre for Atmospheric Research. This article defines a hot day as a day with maximum temperature of >30 °C, and a heat wave as a sequence of at least three such days. The observed warming translated into an increase in a number of hot days and, consequently, an increase in the frequency of heat wave occurrence. In the analysed 50-year period, the smallest number of heat waves was observed between 1976 and 1985, and the largest number between 2006 and 2015 in the lowland part of Germany. The occurrence of heat waves in lowland Germany was related to anticyclonic circulation.
Highlights
Heat waves are considered extreme weather events (IPCC 2013) with regard to extremely high values of air temperature observed during these events and, and most of all, due to their grievous impact on human life and economy (Perkins and Alexander 2013)
Between 1966 and 2015, there was an increase in summer the maximum (Tmax) observed in all stations, but it was the most intensified in the south-western part of the research area (Table 1)
The conducted analyses showed great spatial diversity of the temperature extremes in the lowland Germany over the period 1966–2015, which refers to the spatial distribution of the maximum air temperature (Tmax) in summer
Summary
Heat waves are considered extreme weather events (IPCC 2013) with regard to extremely high values of air temperature observed during these events and, and most of all, due to their grievous impact on human life and economy (Perkins and Alexander 2013). Hot weather caused a rapid increase in the death rate (number of casualties was estimated to be 30,000) and great losses in the agricultural sector (Trigo et al 2005; Garcıa-Herrera et al 2010). Great anomalies occurred during hot weather in July 2006 These covered the area located north of the one from August 2003 so their impact was not so grievous (Rebetez et al 2009). The hot weather in 2010 in Eastern Europe (Barriopedro et al 2011; Russo et al 2015) contributed to a massive increase in the death rate (number of casualties was estimated to be 55,000), losses in agriculture, as well as, occurrence of numerous fires and an increase in air pollution. The hot weather period spanned from the end of June to the half of September, with numerous breaks, and was the reason for all-time low state of the rivers and losses in agriculture (Hoy et al 2016)
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