Hydrometeorological characteristics of the Black-Sea region in the years with extreme values of the Sargasso–Black-Sea index

Abstract

We analyze the annual average values and the anomalies of some hydrometeorological characteristics averaged over the period since January till March near the South Coast of Crimea and in the open part of the Black Sea. It is shown that the sea-surface temperature, the surface temperature of air, and the atmospheric precipitation in the Black-Sea region are lower than the climatic mean values for the extremely high values of the index of North-Atlantic Oscillation (NAO index) (NAO ≥ 1) and the surface temperature gradient between the Sargasso and Black Seas (SBS index) (SBS ≥ 1). In the years with NAO ≤ − 1 and SBS ≤ − 1, the indicated characteristics exceed the climatic mean values. The entire process of changes in the sign of anomalies of the hydrometeorological characteristics runs with a period close to 20 yr.