The role of the subtropical jet stream during heat wave events over north-central Greece

Summary The role of the subtropical jet stream (SJ) in the occurrence of heat waves in South Balkans and Greece is sought here. For this purpose ECMWF grid-point data is examined, concerning the Balkan heat wave of 5–9 July 1988, that cost human lifes, at least in Greece. For the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, a temperature budget is presented, as a function of time. It turns out that the most important heating mechanism is the adiabatic heating. Horizontal mass convergence at the maximum wind level (200 hPa) causes descent and adiabatic heating. The convergence occurs in association with the Hadley Cell, as well as with the right exit quadrant of an anticyclonically curved subtropical jet streak. As air parcels that exit the above jet streak slow down and turn anticyclonically, a strong ageostrophic wind current is established towards and to the right of the flow direction. This ageostrophic current converges above the northeastern Balkans. Downward ageostrophic motion emerges from the above area of horizontal convergence and heads towards the SSW, affecting the Balkans. From the above case study, it is concluded that intense heat waves are favoured in the South Balkans and Greece when the SJ is anticyclonically curved to the north of the Balkans and a jet streak is situated to the north west of the Balkans.     

A study of the daily and hourly change of sunshine duration values on Crete island

Summary In this paper the daily and hourly values of sunshine duration, as well as the spells of virtually sunless days (daily sunshine duration 3.0 hrs) in Crete island are examined for the decade 1971–1980, which has been chosen for homogeneity of the existing observations.We have found that the sunshine duration at meteorological stations on the south side of Crete island exceeds the sunshine duration at the meteorological stations located on the north side of the island, which is attributed to the combination of Crete's relief and the prevalence of the north winds. We have also found that the sunshine duration measured at the meteorological stations on the east side of the island during the cold period of the year (October-March) exceeds the sunshine measured at the meteorological stations on the west side. This excess is attributed to the influence of the moving cyclones of the Mediterranean Sea especially during this season.We also believe that the moving cyclones are responsible for the same picture which appears when we study the virtually sunless spells with 1, 2 or three consecutive days at all the examined meteorological stations, while virtually sunless spells with more than 3 days show a concentration on meteorological stations on the north side of the island which is caused by the ground relief and the north-blowing winds.Finally, we found that virtually sunless spells follow a modified G. Polya distribution which, using theX ²-test, gives a very good fit at the 95% confidence level.

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Zusammenfassung Es werden die tägliche und stündliche Sonnenscheindauer sowie Tage mit kurzer Besonnung (tägliche Sonnenscheindauer 3,0 Stunden) auf Kreta für die Dekade 1971–1980, die aufgrund der Homogenität der Beobachtungen ausgewählt wurde, untersucht.Die Sonnenscheindauer auf der Südseite der Insel übersteigt die auf der Nordseite, was auf das Relief Kretas und die vorherrschenden Nordwinde zurückgeführt wird. In der kalten Jahreszeit (Oktober bis März) übersteigt die Sonnenscheindauer im Osten die im Westen. Dieser Unterschied dürfte auf den zu dieser Zeit starken Einfluß der wandernden Zyklonen im Mittelmeer zurückzuführen sein.Es wird vermutet, daß das vermehrte Auftreten von ein bis drei aufeinanderfolgenden, praktisch sonnenfreien Tagen im Westen auf die gleiche Ursache zurückzuführen ist, während mehr als drei sonnenfreie Tage konzentriert im Norden auftreten, wohl wegen des Reliefs und des Nordwinds.Schließlich wird gezeigt, daß die praktisch sonnenfreien Tage einer modifzierten Polya-Verteilung folgen. EinX ²-Test ergibt eine gute Übereinstimmung mit einem 95% Konfidenzintervall.

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With 3 Figures     

Objective climatology of 500-hPa cyclones in central and east mediterranean region during warm-dry period of the year

Summary ¶An Objective 500-hPa cyclone detection and analysis is performed during the warm-dry period (16 April to 15 October) of the year for the Central and Eastern Mediterranean Region (30°N–50°N, 5°E–35°E). The 40-year NCEP/NCAR reanalyzes gridded data of geopotential height and temperature employed in the study, enable a climatic approach with a spatial (2.5°×2.5°) and a 6-hour temporal (00, 06, 12, 18 UTC) resolution. The occurrence frequency for the entire region shows a high interannual variability without significant trends. The frequency maximization over land in the middle of the warm period indicates a possible relationship with land-air temperature difference. Three primary activity centers (Turkey, Black Sea and Genoa) are objectively determined in the frequency domain as local maxima and their intensity is assessed in terms of average geopotential height and temperature values. The Turkey center, though the most frequent, consists of shallow lows in contrast to the Black Sea center, which is second in frequency, but on average, contains the deepest lows amongst the three. The Genoa center, which comes third in frequency, shows the highest variability in the intensity of the lows. Frequency distributions in the area, during the three sub periods (Early, Middle and Late Warm Period) and during the four synoptic hours, provide insight in to the origins of these systems at the three locations and reveal secondary centers, such as the centers in the Adriatic (at 18 UTC), Northern Greece (during Middle Warm Period) and the South Aegean Sea (during Late Warm Period).Received February 20, 2002; revised November 4, 2002; accepted January 16, 2003 Published online July 30, 2003     

Sunshine duration study within the Mediterranean area

Summary The data information of sunshine duration for two different areas on the northern Mediterranean coast are examined. The data concern the same ten years (1968–77) time period, for both areas.Using the daily values, the sunshine duration is studied for each area and a comparison between them is performed.An attempt is made to explain their differences based on the frequencies and trajectories of the weather systems passing over the two areas, and generally over the Mediterranean area.A special reference is made for the months of April, May, September and October, that is, before and after the summer period, in order to identify sufficient sunshine duration periods.