Long-term air temperature variation in the Karkonosze mountains according to atmospheric circulation

Abstract

The results of meteorological measurements carried out continuously on Mt Śnieżka in Karkonosze mountains since 1880 well document the warming observed on a global scale. Data analysis indicates warming expressed by an increase in the mean annual air temperature of 0.8°C/100 years. A much higher temperature increase was recorded in the last two decades at the turn of the twenty-first century. Mean decade air temperatures increased from −0.1 to 1.5°C. It has been shown that there are relationships between air temperature at Mt Śnieżka and global mechanisms of atmospheric and oceanic circulation. Thermal conditions of the Karkonosze (Mt Śnieżka) accurately reflect global climate trends and impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, macrotypes of atmospheric circulation in Europe (GWL) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). The increase in air temperature during the 1989-2012 solar magnetic cycle may reveal a synergy effect to which astrophysical effects and atmospheric and oceanic circulation effects contribute, modified by constantly increasing anthropogenic factors.

Winter severity and snowiness and their multiannual variability in the Karkonosze Mountains and Jizera Mountains

“…This method was used successfully in previous studies of trends in air temperature (Migała et al 2016;Urban and Tomczyński 2017). The characteristics of various methods for determining mean air temperatures, and the differences between them were presented by Urban (2010Urban ( , 2013.…”

“…In the period 1881-2010 in the upper ranges of the Karkonosze Mountains, a decline was observed in the annual number of days with mean daily air temperatures below 0.0°C and also in the number of extremely cold months, with a simultaneous increase in the number of very warm months in individual decades. This has been especially noticeable since the early 1990s (Migała et al 2016). The higher frequency of mild winters may be related to the change in atmospheric circulation macrotypes over the North Atlantic.…”

“…The higher frequency of mild winters may be related to the change in atmospheric circulation macrotypes over the North Atlantic. In the last decades of the twentieth century, an increase in cyclonic zonal circulation from the southwest was observed (Migała 2005;Migała et al 2016). In Western and Central Europe, this type of circulation generates an extensive zone of weather fronts with heavy clouds, and also brings warming in the cold season and precipitation.…”

“…The progressive warming results in shorter winters and earlier spring thaws (Bednorz 2004;Migała et al 2016). The phenomenon of snowy or severe winters is of interest to many people and institutions, e.g.…”

“…In turn of interseasonal variability of weather conditions is a typical feature of the Karkonosze Mountains climate and is determined primarily by the zonal atmospheric circulation that forms over the North Atlantic. This is clearly illustrated by the fact that temperature conditions on Mount Śnieżka are dependent on the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index (Sobik et al 2014;Migała et al 2016).…”