Effects of the tropospheric large-scale circulation on European winter temperatures during the period of amplified Arctic warming.

ABSTRACT: We investigate factors influencing European winter (DJFM) air temperatures for the period 1979-2015 with the focus on changes during the recent period of rapid Arctic warming (1998-2015). We employ meteorological reanalyses analysed with a combination of correlation analysis, two pattern clustering techniques, and back-trajectory airmass identification. In all five selected European regions, severe cold winter events lasting at least 4 days are significantly correlated with warm Arctic episodes. Relationships during opposite conditions of warm Europe/cold Arctic are also significant. Correlations have become consistently stronger since 1998. Large-scale pattern analysis reveals that cold spells are associated with the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO-) and the positive

SUBMITTER: Vihma T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6988488 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature