Large‐scale Rossby wave and synoptic‐scale dynamic analyses of the unusually late 2016 heatwave over Europe

Zschenderlein, Philipp; Fragkoulidis, Georgios; Fink, Andreas H.; Wirth, Volkmar

doi:10.1002/wea.3278

Cited by 28 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…As an example, RWPs originating from western North America propagated towards Europe, became stationary, and attained larger amplitudes and coincided with a heat wave in the late summer of 2016 (Zschenderlein et al . ). Also, circumglobal jet waviness is linked to temperature extremes (Petoukhov et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the upper troposphere, large-amplitude noncircumglobal Rossby-wave packages (RWPs) are linked to temperature extremes at lower levels Wirth et al, 2018). As an example, RWPs originating from western North America propagated towards Europe, became stationary, and attained larger amplitudes and coincided with a heat wave in the late summer of 2016 (Zschenderlein et al, 2018). Also, circumglobal jet waviness is linked to temperature extremes (Petoukhov et al, 2013), although to a lesser extent compared with noncircumglobal waviness (Röthlisberger et al, 2016;Fragkoulidis et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studying temperature extremes with Lagrangian trajectories gives insight into source regions, typical transport patterns, and physical processes in the air masses (Bieli et al, 2015;Santos et al, 2015;Quinting and Reeder, 2017;Zschenderlein et al, 2018). Bieli et al (2015) focused on high-and low-temperature extremes in three European regions, regardless of their duration, and showed that high-temperature events are generally associated with weaker horizontal transport than cold temperature events, but they experience strong adiabatic warming by subsidence and enhanced surface radiation and surface fluxes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Processes determining heat waves across different European climates

Zschenderlein

Fink

Pfahl

et al. 2019

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

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114

128

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This study presents a comprehensive analysis of processes determining heat waves across different climates in Europe for the period 1979–2016. Heat waves are defined using a percentile‐based index and the main processes quantified along trajectories are adiabatic compression by subsidence and local and remote diabatic processes in the upper and lower troposphere. This Lagrangian analysis is complemented by an Eulerian calculation of horizontal temperature advection. During typical summers in Europe, one or two heat waves occur, with an average duration of five days. Whereas high near‐surface temperatures over Scandinavia are accompanied by omega‐like blocking structures at 500 hPa, heat waves over the Mediterranean are connected to comparably flat ridges. Tracing air masses backwards from the heat waves, we identify three trajectory clusters with coherent thermodynamic characteristics, vertical motions, and geographic origins. In all regions, horizontal temperature advection is almost negligible. In two of the three clusters, subsidence in the free atmosphere is very important in establishing high temperatures near the surface, while the air masses in the third cluster are warmed primarily due to diabatic heating near the surface. Large interregional differences occur between the British Isles and western Russia. Over the latter region, near‐surface transport and diabatic heating appear to be very important in determining the intensity of the heat waves, whereas subsidence and adiabatic warming are of first‐order importance for the British Isles. Although the large‐scale pattern is quasistationary during heat wave days, new air masses are entrained steadily into the lower troposphere during the life cycle of a heat wave. Overall, the results of the present study provide a guideline as to which processes and diagnostics weather and climate studies should focus on to understand the severity of heat waves.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Processes determining heat waves across different European climates

Zschenderlein

Fink

Pfahl

et al. 2019

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

Self Cite

114

128

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, also synoptic to hemispheric-scale atmospheric circulation patterns play a pivotal role in generating long-lasting heat waves and droughts. Recent studies have therefore investigated the atmospheric dynamics mechanisms leading to persistent hot surface weather for several recent examples of extremely long-lasting heat waves (Barriopedro et al, 2011;Black et al, 2004;Dole et al, 2011;Fink et al, 2004;Parker et al, 2014;Schneidereit et al, 2012;Xu et al, 2019;Zschenderlein et al, 2018) as well as from a climatological point of view (Kornhuber et al, 2017;Röthlisberger et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the Local Effect of Northern Hemisphere Atmospheric Blocks on the Persistence of Summer Hot and Dry Spells

Röthlisberger

Martius

2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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The persistence of heat waves and droughts is a key factor in determining their societal impact. Here, the local effect of atmospheric blocks on the persistence of summer hot and dry spells is quantified by comparing their climatological daily survival probability, that is, the probability to survive the next day, to their daily survival probability when they co‐occur with a block. The survival odds of hot spells are increased by more than 50% over most of the Northern Hemisphere extratropical land masses when co‐occurring with blocks. Dry spell persistence is also strongly increased by colocated blocks over western North America, Europe, and southern Russia, while it is significantly decreased over the western North Atlantic and the western North Pacific. These spatial differences in the effect of blocks on both spell types are explained by considering the spatially varying surface temperature and precipitation anomalies induced by the blocks.

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“…The importance of subsidence‐induced warming (often remote from the area affected) has also been highlighted by Zschenderlein et al . () as being vital for preconditioning the lower‐level environment for exceptionally high temperatures experienced during the exceptional heatwaves of late summer and early autumn 2016 in Europe. Advection of warm low‐level air into the affected region and diurnal insolation both appeared to play a secondary role.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%