The Exceptionally Cold January of 2017 over the Balkan Peninsula: A Climatological and Synoptic Analysis

Αnagnostopoulou, Christina; Τολίκα, Κωνσταντία; Lazoglou, Georgia; Maheras, P.

doi:10.3390/atmos8120252

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Europe has also experienced a series of recent cold waves, albeit these have not been exceptional relative to recent historical norms Examples are the winter of 2009/10, January 2012, and January 2017. These European cold waves were primarily attributed to negative anomalies in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oscillations and were severe, but within expected variability (Cattiaux et al 2010, Anagnostopoulou et al 2017, Christiansen et al 2018. February and March 2018 had very cold days for the time of year in the Alps and eastern Europe respectively (and brought some skating possibilities to the Netherlands).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Cold waves are getting milder in the northern midlatitudes

Oldenborgh

Mitchell-Larson

Vecchi

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The strong two-day cold wave in the midwestern United States in January 2019 again ignited the discussion as to whether cold waves are getting more severe or not as a result of Arctic amplification due to climate change. Assessing the evolution of cold waves in the northern hemisphere midlatitudes in the observations has been difficult because the variability of cold waves is large compared to anthropogenic warming. In order to detect changes in cold spells, two complementary ways to optimise the signal-to-noise ratio are employed: multi-decadal series at individual stations, and for shorter time periods by using spatially aggregated measures. Global warming is now strong enough to make trends clear at individual stations when considering long enough (>50 yr) records of daily minimum and maximum temperature. Calculating the land area that has temperatures below the 1-in-10 year return value (defined over 1951-1980) enables us to investigate trends over a shorter time horizon. The long-term station data have strong decreases everywhere in the lowest minimum temperature. Warming trends in the lowest maximum temperature are smaller over most of the Northern Hemisphere, with dataset-dependent indications of possible negative trends in parts of the United States and Mexico. Considering the area experiencing cold waves over the last decades, the most notable feature is a sharp decline of this area since the 1980s. The natural variability is still so large that it is possible to arbitrarily select starting dates after the decline for which the trend is slightly positive in smaller regions like North America or Europe. However, these values are within uncertainties compatible with a steady decline and have differing starting dates in North America and Europe. An analysis of the entire northern midlatitudes confirms the steady decrease in severity and frequency of cold waves over the last decades in the observations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Cold waves are getting milder in the northern midlatitudes

Oldenborgh

Mitchell-Larson

Vecchi

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…The late-December events (E1-E3) developed over central Europe and stirred cold air advection toward southeastern Europe ( Figures S3a-S3c). In early January 2017 severe cold surges affected mainly the Balkans and ranked among the most extreme cold episodes in recorded history (Anagnostopoulou et al, 2017). January events (E4-E6) occurred over western Europe and the eastern Atlantic, bringing cold spells over western Europe ( Figures S3d-S3f).…”

Section: Record-breaking Blocking Activity Over Eurasiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Ural Blocking Driving Extreme Arctic Sea Ice Loss, Cold Eurasia, and Stratospheric Vortex Weakening in Autumn and Early Winter 2016–2017

et al. 2019

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This study investigates the dynamics that led to the repeated cold surges over midlatitude Eurasia, exceptionally warm conditions and sea ice loss over the Arctic, and the unseasonable weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex in autumn and early winter 2016–2017. We use ERA‐Interim reanalysis data and COBE sea ice and sea surface temperature observational data to trace the dynamical pathways that caused these extreme phenomena. Following abnormally low sea ice conditions in early autumn over the Pacific sector of the Arctic basin, blocking anticyclones became dominant over Eurasia throughout autumn. Ural blocking (UB) activity was four times above climatological levels and organized in several successive events. UB episodes played a key role in the unprecedented sea ice loss observed in late autumn 2016 over the Barents‐Kara Seas and the weakening of the stratospheric vortex. Each blocking induced circulation anomalies that resulted in cold air advection to its south and warm advection to its north. The near‐surface warming anomalies over the Arctic and cooling anomalies over midlatitude Eurasia varied in phase with the life cycles of UB episodes. The sea ice cover minimum over the Barents‐Kara Seas in 2016 was not observed in late summer but rather in mid‐November and December shortly after the two strongest UB episodes. Each UB episode drove intense upward flux of wave activity that resulted in unseasonable weakening of the stratospheric vortex in November. The surface impact of this weakening can be linked to the migration of blocking activity and cold spells toward Europe in early winter 2017.

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“…In particular, F4 (see Table 1) was related to a Scandinavian trough generating a cut-off low, anomalously moving eastward and southward through the Balkans (Figure 7). These meteorological events are generally associated with high pressure blocking in the Northern Atlantic (negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO), often acting together with a Siberian high pressure center [29]. It has been pointed out that climatic configurations with two positive anomalies of the 500 hPa GPH, located over the North Atlantic and the Siberian Plateau, became increasingly frequent in recent decades as a signature of the climate change [30].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Recent Floods in the Asso Torrent Basin (Apulia, Italy): An Investigation to Improve the Stormwater Management

Rose

Martano

Fidelibus

2020

Water

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Stormwater management is of concern to public institutions and academies. In the Asso Torrent endorheic basin (Salento peninsula, Southern Italy), a network of natural and artificial channels crossing urban and rural areas and flowing towards six swallow karst holes, several floods occurred in the last six years, after the end of extensive hydraulic works. In this paper, the results of an observational study on the meteorological and hydrological factors concurring to these floods are reported. It was inferred that soil saturation, cumulative precipitation anticipating the events, and clogging of the swallow holes are of relevance and must be considered in the definition of new criteria in decision-making procedure. The adoption of both innovative modeling techniques and real-time control should be an efficient solution to properly regulate the flow control devices before and during the precipitation events. With a view to providing solutions for a sustainable management of the water resources, easy-to-implement measures are suggested, such as the selection of flood-tolerant crops and construction of harvesting systems for alternative water uses.

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The Exceptionally Cold January of 2017 over the Balkan Peninsula: A Climatological and Synoptic Analysis

Cited by 40 publications

References 38 publications

Cold waves are getting milder in the northern midlatitudes

Cold waves are getting milder in the northern midlatitudes

Ural Blocking Driving Extreme Arctic Sea Ice Loss, Cold Eurasia, and Stratospheric Vortex Weakening in Autumn and Early Winter 2016–2017

The Recent Floods in the Asso Torrent Basin (Apulia, Italy): An Investigation to Improve the Stormwater Management

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