Abstract. Extremely hot days (EHD) inMadrid have been analysed to determine the synoptic patterns that produce EHDs during the period of 1955-1998. An EHD is defined as a day with maximum temperature higher than 36.5 • C, a value which is the threshold for the intense effects on mortatility and it coincides with the 95 percentile of the series. Two different situations have been detected as being responsible for an EHD occurrence, one more dynamical, produced by southern fluxes, and another associated with a stagnation situation over Iberia of a longer duration. Both account for 92% of the total number of days, thus providing an efficient classification framework. A circulation index has been derived to characterise and forecast an EHD occurrence. This paper shows that EHD occur in Madrid during short duration events, and no long heat waves, like those recorded in other cities, are present. Additionally, no clear pattern can be detected in the EHD frequency; the occurrence is tied to changes in the summer location of the Azores high.
Abstract.Extremely cold days (ECDs), with minimum temperatures lower than −4.6 • C, have been analysed for Madrid. This threshold corresponds to the 5th percentile of the period 1963-1999. Adopting a case analysis approach, five synoptic patterns have been identified that produce these extremely low temperatures. Three of them are associated with cold air flows over the Iberian Peninsula, and the other two with a lack of significant circulation over the region. A nonlinear association with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has been identified using log-linear models. The NAO positive phase leads to an increase in the winter frequency of those synoptic patterns associated with stagnant air flow over Iberia, while those characterised by cold, northern flows do not appear to be similarly influenced.
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