A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patterns

Snow cover occurrence in the German-Polish lowlands during the third decade of December in years 1971-2000 was investigated. Synoptic maps and anomaly composite maps for the days with snowfalls and for the thaw days have been constructed based on the daily sea level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential...

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Main Author: Ewa Bednorz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Borntraeger 2006-12-01
Series:Meteorologische Zeitschrift
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0165
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author Ewa Bednorz
author_facet Ewa Bednorz
author_sort Ewa Bednorz
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description Snow cover occurrence in the German-Polish lowlands during the third decade of December in years 1971-2000 was investigated. Synoptic maps and anomaly composite maps for the days with snowfalls and for the thaw days have been constructed based on the daily sea level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential heights data. The decrease in the snow cover depth is related to lows over the east Atlantic and west Europe, causing southwesterly airflow. Three types of circulation favourable for snow cover formation have been distinguished, using the k-means cluster analysis. Two of them cause air advection from the north. The third type is characterized by high pressure gradient and a dynamic, deep low shifting from the west to central Europe.
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spelling doaj.art-3cb4b53f85484e929afd3ea6719df6982024-02-08T08:51:14ZengBorntraegerMeteorologische Zeitschrift0941-29482006-12-0115657958310.1127/0941-2948/2006/016555213A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patternsEwa BednorzSnow cover occurrence in the German-Polish lowlands during the third decade of December in years 1971-2000 was investigated. Synoptic maps and anomaly composite maps for the days with snowfalls and for the thaw days have been constructed based on the daily sea level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential heights data. The decrease in the snow cover depth is related to lows over the east Atlantic and west Europe, causing southwesterly airflow. Three types of circulation favourable for snow cover formation have been distinguished, using the k-means cluster analysis. Two of them cause air advection from the north. The third type is characterized by high pressure gradient and a dynamic, deep low shifting from the west to central Europe.http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0165
spellingShingle Ewa Bednorz
A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patterns
Meteorologische Zeitschrift
title A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patterns
title_full A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patterns
title_fullStr A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patterns
title_full_unstemmed A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patterns
title_short A White Christmas or A Christmas Thaw? Changes in snow cover depth in German-Polish lowlands during the last decade of December against daily circulation patterns
title_sort white christmas or a christmas thaw changes in snow cover depth in german polish lowlands during the last decade of december against daily circulation patterns
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0165
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