Agnieszka Podstawczyńska
Articles
Heatwaves in Poland – Frequency, Trends and Relationships with Atmospheric Circulation
Geographia Polonica (2009) vol. 82, iss. 1, pp. 33-46 | 
Full text
Abstract
The daily minimum and maximum temperatures at seven Polish stations were used in ananalysis of the occurrence of heatwaves in the years 1951-2006. Heatwaves were defi ned as days withtemperatures exceeding selected thresholds (tmax ≥25°C, tmax ≥30°C, tmin ≥18°C). The mean length ofa wave of very warm days lasts from 2-4 days, the longest no fewer than 23 days. Waves comprising hotdays and nights are shorter. The frequencies of very warm and hot days and hot nights increased in theanalyzed period, especially its second half (1979-2006). The occurrence of heatwaves characteristicallylinks up with high-pressure systems over Central Europe, along with associated blocking episodes.
Keywords: extreme temperatures, Sen’s slope, Lund classifi cation, composite method, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Faculty of Biology and Earth Science, University of Lodz Lipowa 81, 90-568 Łódź, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Łódź Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Łódź Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Łódź Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź, Poland
Coldwaves in Poland – Frequency, Trends and Relationships with Atmospheric Circulation
Geographia Polonica (2009) vol. 82, iss. 1, pp. 47-60 | Full text
Abstract
The daily minimum and maximum temperatures at nine stations in Poland were used in ananalysis of the occurrence of coldwaves, where these are defi ned as days with temperatures exceedingselected thresholds (tmin ≤ -20°C, tmin ≤ -15°C and tmax ≤ -10°C) in the period 1951-2006. Cold nightsoccurred more often than very cold days and nights but the mean lengths of waves of cold nights weresimilar – lasting a little more than 2 days on average. The frequencies of extremely cold days revealeda slight, but statistically non-signifi cant downward trend. The occurrence of coldwaves was associatedwith high-pressure systems over Central Europe and with blocking episodes, but it was always linkedwith a thick layer of cold air.
Keywords: extremely low temperature, trend, Sen’s slope, least squares method, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Faculty of Biology and Earth Science, University of Lodz Lipowa 81, 90-568 Łódź, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Łódź Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Łódź Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź, Poland
, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Łódź Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź, Poland