Observed changes in precipitation during recent warming: The Czech Republic, 1961–2019

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation patterns over the territory of the Czech Republic for the 1961–2019 period. Monthly, seasonal and annual series of precipitation totals and numbers of precipitation days were calculated for four altitudinal groups and the entire Czech Republic, based upon the daily precipitation totals recorded by 531 rain‐gauge stations run by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. Analysis of series of monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation totals revealed relatively stable fluctuations, while linear trends remained largely insignificant. However, wavelet analysis indicated significant interannual variability on a timescale of 4–8‐years in seasonal and annual series. The minimum in annual variation tended to appear in February (also in January and, at higher altitudes in particular, in April) with the maximum favouring July (but also June and August). The relative proportions of annual totals taken up by winter precipitation increased with altitude, while the proportions for summer precipitation decreased with altitude. Linear trends in the numbers of precipitation days exhibited the most pronounced decreases from April to June, reflected in negative precipitation trends in April–June and positive in July–September. The results obtained are also presented in the broader (central) European context.

Fatalities associated with the severe weather conditions in the Czech Republic, 2000–2019

“…A very preliminary database of weather-related fatalities in the Czech Republic that appears in Brázdil et al (2019b) included only 181 fatalities for 2000-2018, compared to the 1145 casualties herein. The numbers of floodrelated fatalities in the Czech Republic mentioned by Brázdová (2012), 56 for 2000, and 65 for 2000reported by Punčochář (2015, are significantly lower than those in our database (81 and 103 fatalities respectively). The European Severe Weather Database, maintained by the European Severe Storms Laboratory, has a record of weatherrelated fatalities in Europe covering 1981 onwards (Dotzek et al, 2009).…”

“…For example, Kyselý et al (2009) and Plavcová and Urban (2020) analysed the impacts of compound winter extremes upon mortality rates. Brázdová (2012) worked on selected floods in the Czech Republic in order to develop a simple model for estimation of flood fatalities. Czech flood fatality data also appeared in the EUFF database and were worked upon by Petrucci et al (2019a).…”

Effects of Climatic and Soil Data on Soil Drought Monitoring Based on Different Modelling Schemes

“…These accord with the findings of this study, which incorporates the whole area of the CR, although the summer half-year was further divided herein into AMJ and JAS seasons and higher trends were found for AMJ, while values for trends in JAS were roughly halved and were not statistically significant in three of the MS1-MS4 setups. This is probably related to a statistically significant decrease in AMJ precipitation compared to the increasing trend in JAS totals in the CR during 1961-2019, as shown by Brázdil et al [29].…”

“…While precipitation is the only source of water for the soil, temperatures contribute directly to its reduction through evaporation; prolongation of the vegetation season also contributes to higher transpiration and a shorter freezing period leads to a reduction in the period of snow accumulation. In terms of linear trends, the mean annual temperature in the CR exhibited a strong positive and statistically significant trend (0.36 • C/10 years) in the 1961-2020 period, but a non-significant linear trend in annual precipitation stood close to zero (−0.3 mm/10 years) (see also [29,30]).…”

Precipitation in the Czech Republic in Light of Subjective and Objective Classifications of Circulation Types

“…As mentioned by Brázdil et al [52], the variability in precipitation totals across the territory of the Czech Republic is influenced by a number of meteorological and physicalgeographical factors. In the first group of factors, the pathways of weather systems (highs, lows, and fronts), origin of the air-mass inflow (the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, or Eurasia) and type of precipitation (continuous rain or intermittent showers) are worthy of particular consideration.…”