How exceptional was the early August 2003 heatwave in France?

Trigo, Ricardo M.; García‐Herrera, Ricardo; Díaz, Julio; Trigo, Isabel F.; Valente, M. A.

doi:10.1029/2005gl022410

Cited by 209 publications

(190 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In fact, the monthly SST, averaged over the entire Mediterranean Sea, for May, June, July and August 2003, were consistently above the corresponding monthly maximum values observed during the previous 45 years (Grazzini and Viterbo, 2003). Several authors have also identified a blocking regime over Europe (Beniston and Diaz, 2004;Trigo et al, 2005). Although the persistent SST warm values and the amplitude of the blocking event over Europe are likely to be closely linked, the exact role of high SST values within the sub-monthly or seasonal heatwave is still a matter of debate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric conditions associated with the exceptional fire season of 2003 in Portugal

Pereira²,

et al. 2006

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The summer of 2003 was characterised by exceptional warm weather in Europe, particularly during the first two weeks of August, when a devastating sequence of large fires was observed, reaching an amount of circa 450 000 ha, the largest figure ever recorded in Portugal in modern times. They were concentrated in two relatively confined regions of Portugal and a considerable proportion of burnt area was due to fires started on the 2nd and 3rd of August.It is shown that the 850 hPa temperature values observed over Portugal for the 1st and 2nd of August 2003 were the highest recorded since 1958. Using data from synoptic stations covering the entire Portuguese territory, the event was characterised in fine detail, including the evolution of both maximum and minimum temperatures, surface relative humidity, and wind anomaly fields. The different spatial extent of maximum and minimum temperatures is analysed leading to the new all-time Portuguese records of 47.3°C for maximum and 30.6°C for minimum temperatures that were recorded on the 1st of August near the main area of occurrence of the largest fire.Finally, it is shown that the summer of 2003 was preceded by a wet winter followed by a very dry month of May, a precipitation anomalous regime that contributed to a climatic background that favoured the role played by the early August heatwave and the associated meteorological surface conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric conditions associated with the exceptional fire season of 2003 in Portugal

Pereira²,

et al. 2006

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“…These heatwaves were responsible for a significant increase of human mortality, unusually large fires and widespread impacts in ecosystems and crop yields (Trigo et al, 2005;García-Herrera et al, 2010;Barriopedro et al, 2011).…”

Section: A Bastos Et Al: Impacts Of 2003 and 2010 Heatwaves In Planmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In large sectors of France and the Iberian Peninsula, daily maximum temperatures were between 7.5 • C and 12.5 • C above the 1961-1990 average for several weeks (Luterbacher et al, 2004;Trigo et al, 2005;García-Herrera et al, 2010). According to several authors, this event was so extreme in central Europe that it fell completely outside the range of any extreme episodes observed before, even for stations with more than 100 years of daily data (Schär et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing the spatio-temporal impacts of the 2003 and 2010 extreme heatwaves on plant productivity in Europe

et al. 2014

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Abstract. In the last decade, Europe has been stricken by two outstanding heatwaves, the 2003 event in western Europe and the 2010 episode over Russia. Both events were characterized by record-breaking temperatures and widespread socioeconomic impacts, including significant increments on human mortality, decreases in crop yields and in hydroelectric production.Previous works have shown that an extreme climatic event does not always imply an extreme response by ecosystems. This work attempts to assess how extreme was the vegetation response to the heatwaves during 2003 and 2010 in Europe, in order to quantify the impacts of the two events on carbon fluxes in plant productivity and to identify the physical drivers of the observed response.Heatwave impacts in vegetation productivity were analysed using MODIS products from 2000 to 2011. Both 2003 and 2010 events led to marked decreases in plant productivity, well below the climatological range of variability, with carbon uptake by vegetation during August reaching negative anomalies of more than 2 standard deviations, although the 2010 event affected a much larger extent. A differentiated response in autotrophic respiration was observed, depending on land-cover types, with forests increasing respiration rates in response to the heatwaves, while in crops respiration rates decreased.The widespread decrease in carbon uptake matched the regions where very high temperature values were also preceded by a long period of below-average precipitation, leading to strong soil moisture deficits. In the case of the 2003 heatwave, results indicate that moisture deficits coupled with high temperatures drove the extreme response of vegetation, while for the 2010 event very high temperatures appear to be the sole driver of very low productivity.

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“…Ogi et al (2005) pointed out that a strongly positive summertime AO is associated with occurrences of blocking anticyclones, which contributed to the abnormally hot European summer. Trigo et al (2005) also reported that a blocking anticyclone caused the anomalous hot summer of 2003. The blocking anticyclone over Europe in summer 2003 was shown to be part of a planetary-scale wave train, extending from Europe to eastern Eurasia (Orsolini and Nikulin 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A possible cause of the AO polarity reversal from winter to summer in 2010 and its relation to hemispheric extreme summer weather

2012

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In 2010, the Northern Hemisphere, in particular Russia and Japan, experienced an abnormally hot summer characterized by record-breaking warm temperatures and associated with a strongly positive Arctic Oscillation (AO), that is, low pressure in the Arctic and high pressure in the midlatitudes. In contrast, the AO index the previous winter and spring (2009/2010) was record-breaking negative. The AO polarity reversal that began in summer 2010 can explain the abnormally hot summer. The winter sea surface temperatures (SST) in the North Atlantic Ocean showed a tripolar anomaly pattern-warm SST anomalies over the tropics and high latitudes and cold SST anomalies over the midlatitudes-under the influence of the negative AO. The warm SST anomalies continued into summer 2010 because of the large oceanic heat capacity. A model simulation strongly suggested that the AO-related summertime North Atlantic oceanic warm temperature anomalies remotely caused blocking highs to form over Europe, which amplified the positive summertime AO. Thus, a possible cause of the AO polarity reversal might be the ''memory'' of the negative winter AO in the North Atlantic Ocean, suggesting an interseasonal linkage of the AO in which the oceanic memory of a wintertime negative AO induces a positive AO in the following summer. Understanding of this interseasonal linkage may aid in the longterm prediction of such abnormal summer events.

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How exceptional was the early August 2003 heatwave in France?

Cited by 209 publications

References 13 publications

Atmospheric conditions associated with the exceptional fire season of 2003 in Portugal

Atmospheric conditions associated with the exceptional fire season of 2003 in Portugal

Analysing the spatio-temporal impacts of the 2003 and 2010 extreme heatwaves on plant productivity in Europe

A possible cause of the AO polarity reversal from winter to summer in 2010 and its relation to hemispheric extreme summer weather

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