Abstract
We present an analysis of a period of high air temperature that occurred in the second half of August 2012 in the Czech Republic (CZ). We use and compare the results of two different approaches for the evaluation of high air temperature events. The Weather Extremity Index (WEI) evaluates the extremity and spatial extent of the meteorological event of interest. The second method is based on the duration of daily maximum air temperature above specific thresholds. In 2012, the high air temperature in the CZ lasted from 18 August to 24 August (18/8 to 24/8). It was connected with the inflow of hot air from northern Africa between the low pressure trough over the eastern Atlantic and the region of high pressure in central Europe. The high air temperature culminated on 20/8 when its maximum was greater than 30°C across the whole of the CZ. The highest daily maximum air temperature on record in the CZ with a value of 40.4°C was observed at the Dobřichovice station. Our results demonstrate that the studied period was quite extraordinary, occurring so late in the summer with a relatively large areal extent and extremity of detected maximum air temperature. Furthermore, the WEI was found useful for identification of very extreme high air temperature events and facilitated intercomparison in terms of extremity and spatial extent. However, WEI cannot be used for detection of periods with a persistent relatively high air temperature that could have severe impacts on both human activities and natural ecosystems but during which the extremity of observed air temperature values is not very high.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beniston M. and Stephenson D.B., 2004. Extreme climatic events and their evolution under changing climatic conditions. Global Planet. Change, 44, 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2004.06.001.
Beniston M., Stephenson D.B., Christensen O.B., Ferro C.A.T., Frei C., Goyette S., Halsnaes K., Holt T., Jylhä K., Koffi B., Palutikof J., Schöll R., Semmler T. and Woth K., 2007. Future extreme events in European climate; an exploration of Regional Climate Model projections. Clim. Change, 81, 71–95.
Coles S., 2001. An Introduction to Statistical Modeling of Extreme Values. Springer, London U.K., ISBN: 1-85233-459-2.
Donat M.G., Alexander L.V., Yang H, Durre I., Vose R., Dunn R.J.H., Willett K.M., Aguilar E., Brunet M., Caesar J., Hewitson B., Jack C., Klein Tank A.M.G., Kruger A.C., Marengo J., Peterson T.C., Renom M., Oria Rojas C., Rusticucci M., Salinger J., Elrayah A.S., Sekele S.S., Srivastava A.K., Trewin B., Villarroel C., Vincent L.A., Zhai P., Zhang X. and Kitching S., 2013. Updated analyses of temperature and precipitation extreme indices since the beginning of the twentieth century: The HadEX2 dataset. J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 2098–2118.
Frich P., Alexander L.V., Della-Marta P., Gleason B., Haylock M., Klein Tank A.M.G. and Peterson T., 2002. Observed coherent changes in climatic extremes during the second half of the twentieth century. Clim. Res., 19, 193–212.
Gao Y., Fu J.S., Drake J.B., Liu Y. and Lamarque J-F., 2012. Projected changes of extreme weather events in the eastern United States based on a high resolution climate modeling system. Environ. Res. Lett., 7, 044025, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044025.
Huth R., Kyselý J. and Pokorná L., 2000. A GCM simulation of heat waves, dry spells, and their relationships to circulation. Clim. Change., 46, 29–60.
Kyselý J., 2010. Recent severe heat waves in central Europe: how to view them in a long-term prospect- Int. J. Climatol., 30, 89–109.
Müller M. and Kašpar M., 2013. Event-adjusted evaluation of weather and climate extremes. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 1, 4481–4510, doi:10.5194/nhessd-1-4481-2013.
Perkins S.E. and Alexander L.V., 2013. On the measurement of heat waves. J. Clim., 26, 4500–4517, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00383.1.
Perkins S.E., Alexander L.V. and Nain J.R., 2012. Increasing frequency, intensity and duration of observed global heat waves and warm spells. Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L20714 DOI: 10.1029/2012GL053361.
Radinović D. and Ćurić M., 2013. Criteria for heat and cold wave duration indexes. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 107, 505–510, doi:10.1007/s00704-011-0495-8.
Schubert S. and Grossman-Clarke S., 2013. The Influence of green areas and roof albedos on air temperatures during Extreme Heat Events in Berlin, Germany. Meteorol. Z., 22, 131–143
Štpánek P., Zahradníček P. and Skalák P., 2009. Data quality control and homogenization of air temperature and precipitation series in the area of the Czech Republic in the period 1961–2007. Adv. Sci. Res., 3, 23–26.
WMO, 2013. WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2012. WMO-No. 1108. ISBN: 978-92-63-11108-1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Holtanová, E., Valeriánová, A., Crhová, L. et al. Heat wave of August 2012 in the Czech Republic: comparison of two approaches to assess high temperature event. Stud Geophys Geod 59, 159–172 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-014-0805-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-014-0805-6