Collaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018
Two intense heatwaves of July and early August 2018 are found to be associated with a European blocking (EB) event accompanied by a series of consecutive positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO ^+ ) events. Further analyses show that the collaborative role of an EB event and its upstream NAO ^+ pat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba6ad |
| _version_ | 1797747773265674240 |
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| author | Muyuan Li Yao Yao Ian Simmonds Dehai Luo Linhao Zhong Xiaodan Chen |
| author_facet | Muyuan Li Yao Yao Ian Simmonds Dehai Luo Linhao Zhong Xiaodan Chen |
| author_sort | Muyuan Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Two intense heatwaves of July and early August 2018 are found to be associated with a European blocking (EB) event accompanied by a series of consecutive positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO ^+ ) events. Further analyses show that the collaborative role of an EB event and its upstream NAO ^+ pattern could increase the frequency, persistence, magnitude and scale of heatwaves over Europe. Compared with NAO ^+ -unrelated EB events, NAO ^+ -related EB events are less movable (quasi-stationary) and more persistent over Europe, which could contribute to an increase in the intensity and persistence of heatwaves. In addition, the blocking high of this type has a northeast–southwest orientation with stronger warm airflow and less precipitation in northern and western Europe, where large scopes of higher temperatures tend to occur. In contrast, NAO ^+ -unrelated EB events without orientation correspond to a trough in the south, which results in increased precipitation and cold air in the southern part of Europe, and thus high temperatures contract to the northern part of Europe. Moreover, considering that the NAO ^+ pattern leads the formation of an EB event, the NAO ^+ pattern might serve as a potential predictor for European heatwaves. Our conclusions are strongly supported by the analysis of CMIP6 historical simulations which also capture the differences of high temperatures and atmospheric circulations between NAO ^+ -related EB events and NAO ^+ -unrelated EB events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-172f268ec49048e295fcf662547c577b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:23Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-172f268ec49048e295fcf662547c577b2023-08-09T14:54:03ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-01151111400310.1088/1748-9326/aba6adCollaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018Muyuan Li0Yao Yao1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6425-7855Ian Simmonds2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4479-3255Dehai Luo3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8834-8623Linhao Zhong4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2833-1808Xiaodan Chen5Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne , Victoria, 3010, AustraliaKey Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University , Shanghai 200438, People’s Republic of ChinaTwo intense heatwaves of July and early August 2018 are found to be associated with a European blocking (EB) event accompanied by a series of consecutive positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO ^+ ) events. Further analyses show that the collaborative role of an EB event and its upstream NAO ^+ pattern could increase the frequency, persistence, magnitude and scale of heatwaves over Europe. Compared with NAO ^+ -unrelated EB events, NAO ^+ -related EB events are less movable (quasi-stationary) and more persistent over Europe, which could contribute to an increase in the intensity and persistence of heatwaves. In addition, the blocking high of this type has a northeast–southwest orientation with stronger warm airflow and less precipitation in northern and western Europe, where large scopes of higher temperatures tend to occur. In contrast, NAO ^+ -unrelated EB events without orientation correspond to a trough in the south, which results in increased precipitation and cold air in the southern part of Europe, and thus high temperatures contract to the northern part of Europe. Moreover, considering that the NAO ^+ pattern leads the formation of an EB event, the NAO ^+ pattern might serve as a potential predictor for European heatwaves. Our conclusions are strongly supported by the analysis of CMIP6 historical simulations which also capture the differences of high temperatures and atmospheric circulations between NAO ^+ -related EB events and NAO ^+ -unrelated EB events.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba6adEuropean heatwaveNAOatmospheric blockingcollaborative impactweather extremesteleconnection |
| spellingShingle | Muyuan Li Yao Yao Ian Simmonds Dehai Luo Linhao Zhong Xiaodan Chen Collaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018 Environmental Research Letters European heatwave NAO atmospheric blocking collaborative impact weather extremes teleconnection |
| title | Collaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018 |
| title_full | Collaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018 |
| title_fullStr | Collaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Collaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018 |
| title_short | Collaborative impact of the NAO and atmospheric blocking on European heatwaves, with a focus on the hot summer of 2018 |
| title_sort | collaborative impact of the nao and atmospheric blocking on european heatwaves with a focus on the hot summer of 2018 |
| topic | European heatwave NAO atmospheric blocking collaborative impact weather extremes teleconnection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba6ad |
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