On the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over Europe

The European summer 2003 is a prominent example for an extreme hot and dry season. The main mechanisms that contributed to the growth of the heat wave are still disputed and state-of-the-art climate models have difficulty to realistically simulate the extreme conditions. Here we analyse simulations...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Weisheimer, A, Doblas-Reyes, F, Jung, T, Palmer, T
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2011
_version_ 1797102556326920192
author Weisheimer, A
Doblas-Reyes, F
Jung, T
Palmer, T
author_facet Weisheimer, A
Doblas-Reyes, F
Jung, T
Palmer, T
author_sort Weisheimer, A
collection OXFORD
description The European summer 2003 is a prominent example for an extreme hot and dry season. The main mechanisms that contributed to the growth of the heat wave are still disputed and state-of-the-art climate models have difficulty to realistically simulate the extreme conditions. Here we analyse simulations using recent versions of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts seasonal ensemble forecasting system and present, for the first time, retrospective forecasts which simulate accurately not only the abnormal warmth but also the observed precipitation and mid-tropospheric circulation patterns. It is found that while the land surface hydrology plays a crucial role, the successful simulations also required revised formulations of the radiative and convective parameterizations. We conclude that the predictability of the event was less due to remote teleconnections effects and more due to in situ processes which helped maintain the dry surface anomalies occurring at the beginning of the summer. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T06:07:35Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:ee628184-7214-4d56-9ed7-952895d635bf
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T06:07:35Z
publishDate 2011
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:ee628184-7214-4d56-9ed7-952895d635bf2022-03-27T11:32:11ZOn the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over EuropeJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ee628184-7214-4d56-9ed7-952895d635bfEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2011Weisheimer, ADoblas-Reyes, FJung, TPalmer, TThe European summer 2003 is a prominent example for an extreme hot and dry season. The main mechanisms that contributed to the growth of the heat wave are still disputed and state-of-the-art climate models have difficulty to realistically simulate the extreme conditions. Here we analyse simulations using recent versions of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts seasonal ensemble forecasting system and present, for the first time, retrospective forecasts which simulate accurately not only the abnormal warmth but also the observed precipitation and mid-tropospheric circulation patterns. It is found that while the land surface hydrology plays a crucial role, the successful simulations also required revised formulations of the radiative and convective parameterizations. We conclude that the predictability of the event was less due to remote teleconnections effects and more due to in situ processes which helped maintain the dry surface anomalies occurring at the beginning of the summer. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.
spellingShingle Weisheimer, A
Doblas-Reyes, F
Jung, T
Palmer, T
On the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over Europe
title On the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over Europe
title_full On the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over Europe
title_fullStr On the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over Europe
title_full_unstemmed On the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over Europe
title_short On the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over Europe
title_sort on the predictability of the extreme summer 2003 over europe
work_keys_str_mv AT weisheimera onthepredictabilityoftheextremesummer2003overeurope
AT doblasreyesf onthepredictabilityoftheextremesummer2003overeurope
AT jungt onthepredictabilityoftheextremesummer2003overeurope
AT palmert onthepredictabilityoftheextremesummer2003overeurope