Observed Changes in One-in-20 Year Extremes of Canadian Surface Air Temperatures

Weather and climate extremes are often associated with substantial adverse impacts on society and the environment. Assessment of changes in extremes is of great and broad interest. This study first homogenizes daily minimum and maximum surface air temperatures recorded at 146 stations in Canada. In order to assess changes in one-in-20 year extremes (i.e., extremes with a 20-year return period) in temperature, annual maxima and minima of both daily minimum temperatures and daily maximum temperatures are derived from the homogenized daily temperature series and analyzed with a recently developed extreme value analysis approach based on a tree of generalized extreme value distributions (including stationary and non-stationary cases). The procedure is applied to estimate the changes over the period 1911 to 2010 at 115 stations, located mainly in southern Canada, and over the period 1961 to 2010 at 146 stations across Canada (including 37 stations in the North). The results show that warming is strongest for extreme low temperature and weakest for extreme high temperature and is much stronger in the Canadian Arctic than in southern Canada. Warming is stronger in winter than in summer and stronger during nighttime than daytime of the same season.     

Climate change detection and annual extreme temperature analysis of the Irtysh Basin

As the largest tributary of the Ob River, the Irtysh River is an international river partially joining the territories of China, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Four meteorological stations in the Irtysh Basin were selected and the long-term observed daily temperature data were collected. The extreme temperature change was analyzed considering climate change. Detected by the heuristic segmentation by histogram comparison approach, climate was changed during the first half of the 1970s in terms of the increased mean value and decreased standard deviation of the daily temperature series. The noticeable change of the monthly mean temperature was the warmer winter. After climate change, the annual maximum temperature was little changed and its series was not segmented. However, the annual minimum temperature was significantly changed in terms of the increased mean value by more than 2°C, so its series was segmented to the pre- and post-change point subseries. The generalized extreme value distribution was fitted to the annual extreme temperature and the parameters were estimated by the maximum likelihood method. The return levels for 10/50/100-year return periods estimated by the profile likelihood method were obtained for the annual extreme temperature. The probability of occurrence of the cold extremes was decreased after 1970s.     

Long-term trend analysis for temperature in the Jinsha River Basin in China

On the basis of the mean annual and seasonal temperatures from 30 meteorological stations in the Jinsha River Basin (JRB) from 1961 to 2008, the temperature trends are analyzed by using Mann–Kendall test and linear trend analysis. There is an increasing trend in mean annual and seasonal temperatures during this period, and the increasing trends in winter seem more significant than those in the other three seasons. The mean annual temperature has increased by 0.0158°C/year during the last 48 years. There are more than 70% of stations exhibiting increasing trends for annual and seasonal temperatures. The increasing trends in the headwater and upper reaches are more dominant than those in the middle and lower reaches. The largest increase magnitude occurred in the low temperature area, while the largest decrease magnitude occurred in the high temperature area. The decreasing trends are mainly characterized for the maximum temperature time series, and summer is the only season showing a slight and insignificant increasing trend. All the time series showed a statistically significant increasing trend at the level of α?=?0.05 for the minimum temperature time series. As a whole, the increasing magnitude of the minimum temperature is significantly greater than the decreasing magnitude of the maximum temperature.     

Long-Term Trends in Extreme Temperatures in Hong Kong and Southern China

The observed long-term trends in extreme temperatures in Hong Kong were studied based on the meteorological data recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters from 1885-2008. Results show that, over the past 124 years, the extreme daily minimum and maximum temperatures, as well as the length of the warm spell in Hong Kong, exhibit statistically significant long-term rising trends, while the length of the cold spell shows a statistically significant decreasing trend. The time-dependent return period analysis also indicated that the return period for daily minimum temperature at 4°C or lower lengthened considerably from 6 years in 1900 to over 150 years in 2000, while the return periods for daily maximum temperature reaching 35°C or above shortened drastically from 32 years in 1900 to 4.5 years in 2000. Past trends in extreme temperatures from selected weather stations in southern China from 1951-2004 were also assessed. Over 70% of the stations studied yielded a statistically significant rising trend in extreme daily minimum temperature, while the trend for extreme maximum temperatures was found to vary, with no significant trend established for the majority of stations.     

Spatial modeling of annual minimum and maximum temperatures in Iceland

Bayesian hierarchical modeling is applied to the analysis of annual minimum and maximum temperatures. In both cases the generalized extreme value distribution is selected as the marginal distribution at each site due to its flexibility and theoretical basis. This distribution has three unknown parameters, a location parameter, a scale parameter and a shape parameter. The location and scale parameters are assumed to vary across sites while the shape parameter is assumed to be the same for all sites. The location and the scale parameters are modeled as two independent Gaussian spatial processes which are governed by the Matérn correlation function. These spatial processes play a central role in spatial predictions at unobserved sites. The location parameter is also modeled with a common time effect which includes a linear trend and a linear site effect with altitude, distance to open sea, latitude and longitude as covariates. This model allows for spatial predictions for any set of unobserved sites, the scale of the grid can be as fine as possible as long as the covariates are observed at each of the unobserved sites. Data on the annual minimum and maximum temperatures in Iceland from 1961 to 2009?at 72 sites are analyzed and used to predict the 2nd percentile of the minimum temperature for the 12-month period from July 2011 to June 2012 and the 98th percentile of maximum temperature for the year 2011 for a large set of unobserved sites across Iceland at which the covariates are available. The spatial predictions reveal that the 2nd percentile of minimum temperature for 2011 to 2012 reaches ?35°C in the central part of Iceland and ranges from ?12 to ?22°C around the coast of Iceland with the lowest coastal temperatures in the Northern part and the Northeastern part. The 98th percentile of maximum temperature in 2011 ranges from 10 to 30°C where the warmest areas are found in the Eastern part, the North-Eastern part and the Southern part of the country. The estimated increase in minimum and maximum temperatures over the years 1961 to 2009 is 0.71 and 0.47°C per decade, respectively, while the average annual temperature increased 0.24°C per decade over the same period.     

Recent trends in observed temperature and precipitation extremes in the Yangtze River basin,China

Summary The present study is an analysis of the observed extreme temperature and precipitation trends over Yangtze from 1960 to 2002 on the basis of the daily data from 108 meteorological stations. The intention is to identify whether or not the frequency or intensity of extreme events has increased with climate warming over Yangtze River basin in the last 40 years. Both the Mann-Kendall (MK) trend test and simple linear regression were utilized to detect monotonic trends in annual and seasonal extremes. Trend tests reveal that the annual and seasonal mean maximum and minimum temperature trend is characterized by a positive trend and that the strongest trend is found in the winter mean minimum in the Yangtze. However, the observed significant trend on the upper Yangtze reaches is less than that found on the middle and lower Yangtze reaches and for the mean maximum is much less than that of the mean minimum. From the basin-wide point of view, significant increasing trends are observed in 1-day extreme temperature in summer and winter minimum, but there is no significant trend for 1-day maximum temperature. Moreover, the number of cold days ≤0 °C and ≤10 °C shows significant decrease, while the number of hot days (daily value ≥35 °C) shows only a minor decrease. The upward trends found in the winter minimum temperature in both the mean and the extreme value provide evidence of the warming-up of winter and of the weakening of temperature extremes in the Yangtze in last few decades. The monsoon climate implies that precipitation amount peaks in summer as does the occurrence of heavy rainfall events. While the trend test has revealed a significant trend in summer rainfall, no statistically significant change was observed in heavy rain intensity. The 1-day, 3-day and 7-day extremes show only a minor increase from a basin-wide point of view. However, a significant positive trend was found for the number of rainstorm days (daily rainfall ≥50 mm). The increase of rainstorm frequency, rather than intensity, on the middle and lower reaches contributes most to the positive trend in summer precipitation in the Yangtze.     

1955-2005年中国极端气温的变化

利用1955-2005年中国234站逐日最高、最低气温资料,通过计算趋势系数等,研究了中国年、季极端气温变化趋势的时空特征。结果表明：空间分布上,我国年和四季的极端低温均表现出稳定的增温趋势;年、春季和夏季极端高温在黄河下游地区出现了较明显的降温趋势,而在华南地区增温趋势较显著;时间演变上,无论年还是四季,极端低温的增温幅度明显大于极端高温的增幅;极端气温在四季均有增温趋势,尤其以冬季的升温最明显;年极端高温和低温的年代际变化基本一致。     

The maximum temperatures and heat waves in Serbia during the summer of 2007

An extraordinary heat wave occurred in Serbia from July 14 to July 24 in 2007. Record values of the maximum temperatures were observed over almost the whole territory of Serbia and in Smederevska Palanka, a temperature of 44.9°C was registered, which was the absolute maximum value ever recorded. The highest increase over the previous absolute maximum temperature, dating back to 1888, of 3.1°C was registered in Belgrade. The Warm Spell Duration Indicator, from which the duration and severity of the heat waves are estimated, was applied to the series of the daily maximum temperatures in Smederevska Palanka. An analysis of the daily maximum temperatures and heat waves during the summer of 2007 revealed significant changes in the trends of anomalies and extreme (90%) quantiles. In addition, the main characteristics of the heat wave and the circulation conditions which caused the heat wave in Serbia during the summer 2007 were analyzed.     

A diagnosis of twentieth century temperature records at West Lafayette,Indiana

A diagnostic study of 80 yrs(1901–80) of surface temperatures collected at West Lafayette, Indiana, has been found to be in tune with the global trend and that for the eastern two-thirds of the United States, namely, cold at the turn of the century, warming up to about 1940, and then cooling to present. The study was divided into two cold periods (1901–18, 1947–80) and a warm period (1919–46), based on the distribution of annual mean temperature. Decadal mean annual temperatures ranged from 10 °C in period I to 12.2 °C in period II, to 9.4 °C during the present cold period. Themean annual temperature for the 80 yr ranged from the coldest of 8.7 °C in 1979 to the warmest of 13.6 °C in 1939. Thedaily mean temperature for the entire 80-yr ranged from -4.7 °C on 31 January to 25.1 °C on 27 July. Thecoldest daily mean was -26.7 °C on 17 January, 1977, and thewarmest daily mean was 35 °C on 14 July, 1936. The range of values for thedaily mean maximum temperatures was -.2 °C on 31 January to 31.4 °C on 27 July. Corresponding values for thedaily mean minimum are -9.2 °C on 31 January and 18.7 °C on 27 July. The all-time extreme temperatures are -30.6 °C on 26 February, 1963 and 43.9 °C on 14 July, 1936. Climatic variability has been considered by computing the standard deviations of a) the daily mean maximum and minimum temperature per year, and b) the daily mean maximum and minimum temperatures for each day of the year for the 80-yr period. These results have shown that there is more variability in the daily mean maximum per year than in the daily mean minimum, for each year of the 80-yr period. Also the variability for both extremes has been greater in each of the two cold periods than in the warm period. Particularly noticeable has been theincrease in the variability of the daily mean minima per year during the current cooling trend. Further, it has been determined that the variability in the daily mean maxima and minima for each day of the year (based on the entire 80 yrs is a) two times greater in the winter than in the summer for both extremes, and b) about the same for each in the summer, greater for daily maximum in the spring and fall, but greater for the daily minimum during the winter. The latter result is undoubtedly related to the effect of snow cover on daily minimum temperatures. An examination of daily record maximum and minimum temperatures has been made to help establish climatic trends this century. For the warm period, 175 record maxima and 68 record minima were set, compared to 213 record minima and 105 record maxima during the recent cold period. For West Lafayette, the present climatic trend is definitely one of extreme record-breaking cold. Evidence has also been presented to show the substantial increases in snowfall amounts in the lee regions of the Great Lakes during the present cold period, due to the lake-induced snow squalls associated with cold air mass intrusions. The possible impact of the cooling trend on agricultural activities has also been noted, due to a reduced growing season.     

Climate change in Bangladesh: a spatio-temporal analysis and simulation of recent temperature and rainfall data using GIS and time series analysis model

In this paper, temperature and rainfall data series were analysed from 34 meteorological stations distributed throughout Bangladesh over a 40-year period (1971 to 2010) in order to evaluate the magnitude of these changes statistically and spatially. Linear regression, coefficient of variation, inverse distance weighted interpolation techniques and geographical information systems were performed to analyse the trends, variability and spatial patterns of temperature and rainfall. Autoregressive integrated moving average time series model was used to simulate the temperature and rainfall data. The results confirm a particularly strong and recent climate change in Bangladesh with a 0.20 °C per decade upward trend of mean temperature. The highest upward trend in minimum temperature (range of 0.80–2.4 °C) was observed in the northern, northwestern, northeastern, central and central southern parts while greatest warming in the maximum temperature (range of 1.20–2.48 °C) was found in the southern, southeastern and northeastern parts during 1971–2010. An upward trend of annual rainfall (+7.13 mm per year) and downward pre-monsoon (?0.75 mm per year) and post-monsoon rainfall (?0.55 mm per year) trends were observed during this period. Rainfall was erratic in pre-monsoon season and even more so during the post-monsoon season (variability of 44.84 and 85.25 % per year, respectively). The mean forecasted temperature exhibited an increase of 0.018 °C per year in 2011–2020, and if this trend continues, this would lead to approximately 1.0 °C warmer temperatures in Bangladesh by 2020, compared to that of 1971. A greater rise is projected for the mean minimum (0.20 °C) than the mean maximum (0.16 °C) temperature. Annual rainfall is projected to decline 153 mm from 2011 to 2020, and a drying condition will persist in the northwestern, western and southwestern parts of the country during the pre- and post-monsoonal seasons.     

近54 年辛集市气温及降水变化特征

根据河北省辛集气象站近54 a（1957-2010年）的月平均地面观测资料,采用气候统计学方法,分别从气温及降水的趋势变化、周期变化、突变特征等方面进行分析,总结该市近54 a气温及降水的变化特征。结果表明：1）近54 a来辛集市年平均气温、各季平均气温及极端最低气温呈显著上升趋势,四季中冬季增温趋势最明显,夏季增温幅度最弱,极端最低气温上升而极端最高气温下降,导致气温日较差减小;2）在20世纪60年代,年平均和冬季气温表现出准2～3 a的显著年际变化周期,年平均和春季气温还表现出准7 a的显著年际周期特征;3）该市年降水量近54 a来整体呈先增加后减少的变化趋势;4）年和夏秋季降水量在20世纪60年代均表现出准3～4 a的周期特征,而在春季准7 a的年际振荡贯穿始终;5）辛集市的气温变化趋势以及突变开始时间与全国、河北省以及石家庄地区近50 a气温变化基本一致,但该市的降水量变化则略有不同,降水量变化的长期趋势不显著且突变不明显,主要是由于降水量的时空变化差异性较大。     

Characteristics of extreme daily minimum and maximum temperature over Northeast China, 1961–2009

In this study, the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis method is employed to determine the thresholds of extreme events. Subsequently, the characteristics of extreme temperatures have been analyzed over Northeast China during 1961–2009. Approximately 58 % of stations have negative interdecadal trends of ?2.2 days/10 years to 0 days/10 years in extreme low minimum temperature (ELMT) frequency. Notable positive trend of 0–2.5 days/10 years in extreme high maximum temperature (EHMT) frequency of about 94 % stations are found. Approximately 58 % of stations have decreasing trend in ELMT intensity, whereas 69 % of stations have increasing trend of EHMT intensity. The trends are the range of ?0.72 °C/10 years to 0 °C/10 years and 0–0.7 °C/10 years, respectively. We propose the extreme temperatures indices, ELMT index (ELMTI) and EHMT index (EHMTI), which combined the frequency and intensity of extreme temperatures to represent the order of severity of extreme temperatures. According to this approach, serious ELMT mainly occur in the Songliao Plain and the Sanjiang Plain, especially in the Songliao Plain. Serious EHMT distinctly occur in the Sanjing Plain, and the southwestern and northwestern regions of Northeast China in recent five decades.     

合肥市53年气温变化特征分析

利用1953-2005年安徽省合肥市逐日平均气温、最高气温和最低气温资料,应用最小二乘法和Morlet小波分析法,对合肥市温度变化进行了分析。结果表明,合肥市53a来年平均气温、年平均最高气温和年平均最低气温变化,均具有明显冷期和暖期交替的阶段性特点,而且冷期持续时间比暖期持续时间长;春季、秋季和冬季年平均气温均呈上升趋势,但增幅不同,冬季最大,春季次之,秋季最小,而夏季气温呈微弱的下降趋势;年极端最高气温呈微弱的下降趋势,年极端最低气温则呈强烈的上升趋势;年热积温呈下降趋势,年冷积温则呈明显的上升趋势;年平均气温、年平均最高气温和年平均最低气温变化具有明显的周期性,均存在30a左右的大尺度周期振荡,而中小尺度周期振荡则不相同。     

The Characteristics of Cold Air Outbreaks over the Eastern Highlands of Kenya

Summary Climatological statistics of extreme temperature events over Kenya are established from the analysis of daily and monthly maximum temperatures for a representative station (Nairobi Dagoretti Corner) over the period 1956–1997. The months of June to August were shown to be the coldest with a mean monthly maximum temperature of less than 22 °C. Seasonal (June to August) mean maximum temperature was 21.5 °C. Using this seasonal mean temperature for the period 1967–1997 delineated 1968 as the coldest year in this series and 1983 as the warmest year. Spectral analysis of the seasonal data, for both the coldest and the warmest years, revealed that the major periods were the quasi-biweekly (10 days) and the Intraseasonal Oscillations (23 days). Secondary peaks occurred at periods of 4–6 and 2.5–3.5 days. A temperature threshold of 16.7 °C during July was used to define cold air outbreaks over Nairobi. This threshold temperature of 16.7 °C was obtained from the mean July maximum temperature (20.9 °C) minus two standard deviations. Notable trends include a decrease in the frequency of station-days, between 1956 and 1997, with temperatures less than 16.7 °C during July. Surface pressure patterns indicate that the origin of the cold air is near latitude 25° S and to the east of mainland South Africa. The cold air near 25° S is advected northwards ahead of the surface pressure ridge. Received July 19, 1999 Revised January 11, 2000     

江苏省近45a极端气候的变化特征

利用江苏省35个测站1960—2004年45 a的逐日最高温度、最低温度、日降水量资料集,分析了近45 a江苏省极端高温、极端低温以及极端降水的基本变化特征。结果表明:(1)多年平均年极端高温的空间分布表现为西高东低,而极端低温则表现为自北向南的显著增加,极端降水的发生频次自南向北逐渐减少;(2)极端高温在江苏中部以及南部大部分地区有上升趋势,而西北地区则有弱的下降趋势;全省极端低温表现为显著的升高趋势;极端降水频次在南部地区有增加的趋势,北部减少趋势,中部则无变化趋势。(3)江苏极端高温、低温和极端降水的年际和年代际变化具有区域性差异,其中极端降水频次变化的区域性差异最为明显。     

北京1841年以来均一化最高和最低气温日值序列的构建

长期连续的日值观测资料是研究百年来极端气候事件及其变化特征的重要基础支撑.目前中外由于缺乏可靠的逐日百年尺度气候资料,使得20世纪50年代以前的极端气候变化规律仍然没有得到很好的认识.基于国家气象信息中心收集整理的日最高和最低气温观测资料,构建北京1841—2019年气温日值序列.首先,通过数据质量控制剔除原始基础资料...     

南京极值温度长期变化及其与平均温度的关系

利用1951—2009年南京日平均气温、日最高气温以及日最低气温等资料,分析了南京日最高气温和最低气温的长期演变趋势及其与平均温度的关系。结果表明：近60 a来,南京年平均气温、年平均最高气温、年平均最低气温均呈变暖趋势,20世纪90年代增温尤为明显;日最高气温,除夏季表现为降温趋势外,其他季节均为升温趋势;而四季平均气温和平均最低气温均为增温趋势;夏季气温日较差下降趋势明显,导致夏季昼夜温差减小;极端高温、低温的发生日数均呈下降趋势。极端气温与平均气温之间存在明显的相关性,且极端低温对平均气温影响更为明显。     

Recent trends in temperature and precipitation over the Balearic Islands (Spain)

Changes in climatic parameters are often given in terms of global averages even though large regional variability is generally observed. The study of regional tendencies provides not only supplementary conclusions to more large-scale oriented results but is also of particular interest to local policy-makers and resource managers to have detailed information regarding sensible and influential climatic parameters. In this study, changes in precipitation for the Balearic Islands (Spain) have been analyzed using data from 18 rain gauges with complete daily time series during the period 1951–2006 and two additional sites where only monthly totals were available. Tendencies for maximum and minimum 2-m temperatures have also been derived using data from three thermometric stations with daily time series for the period 1976–2006. The thermometric stations are located at the head of the runways in the airports of the three major islands of the archipelago, where urbanization has arguably not had a relevant impact on the registered values. The annual mean temperature in the mid-troposphere and lower stratosphere has also been analyzed using the Balearics radiosonde data for the period 1981–2006. Results show there is a negative tendency for annual precipitation (163 mm per century) with 85% significance on the sign of the trend. An abrupt decrease in mean yearly precipitation of 65 mm is objectively detected in the time series around 1980. Additionally, the analysis shows that light and heavy daily precipitation (up to 4 mm and above 64 mm, respectively) increase their contribution to the total annual, while the share from moderate-heavy precipitations (16–32 mm) is decreasing. Regarding the thermometric records, minimum temperatures increased at a rate of 5.8°C per century during the 31 years and maximum temperatures also increased at a rate of 5.0°C per century, both having a level of statistical significance for the sign of the linear trend above 99%. Temperatures in the mid-troposphere decreased at a rate of ??5.4°C per century while a tendency of ??7.8°C per century is found in the lower stratosphere. The level of statistical significance for the sign of both the tropospheric and stratospheric linear trends is above 98% despite the great inter-annual variability of both series.     

Analysis of changes in extreme temperatures using quantile regression

This study examines the changes in regional extreme temperature in South Korea using quantile regression, which is applied to analyze trends, not only in the mean but in all parts of the data distribution. The results show considerable diversity across space and quantile level in South Korea. In winter, the slopes in lower quantiles generally have a more distinct increase trend compared to the upper quantiles. The time series for daily minimum temperature during the winter season only shows a significant increasing trend in the lower quantile. In case of summer, most sites show an increase trend in both lower and upper quantiles for daily minimum temperature, while there are a number of sites with a decrease trend for daily maximum temperature. It was also found that the increase trend of extreme low temperature in large urban areas (0.80°C decade^?1) is much larger than in rural areas (0.54°C decade^?1) due to the effects of urbanization.     

Temperature trends in Libya over the second half of the 20th century

This paper investigates spatial variability of temperature trends over Libya in the second half of the 20th century. The study is based on complete and homogeneous time series of minimum, maximum, and mean temperature for ten observatories. During the investigated period (1951–1999), temperature trend analyses have experienced a downward trend in the maximum surface temperature (about –0.06°C decade^–1) and an upward trend in the minimum surface temperature (about 0.23°C decade^–1). Cooling tendency in maximum temperature is spatially more pronounced in inland stations compared to coastal stations. At the seasonal scale, maximum temperature cooling is more obvious in winter and spring, meanwhile minimum temperature warming is more pronounced in summer and fall. In accordance with global trends, the surface mean temperature has moderately risen at an average rate of 0.09°C decade^–1. However, this trend has shown considerable temporal variability considering a more pronounced upward trend in summer and fall. In conjunction with other regional and global investigations, clear trends towards smaller diurnal range are presented (–0.28°C decade^–1).