Abstract
Heat waves (periods of extremely hot summer weather) in the region of south Moravia are in the focus of this study. The introduced definition consists of three requirements imposed on the period that is considered a heat wave: at least three days with T MAX ≥30.0°C must be observed; the mean T MAX over the whole period is at least 30.0°C; and T MAX must not drop below 25.0°C. To compare the severity of the individual heat waves, various characteristics (duration, number of tropical days, peak temperature, cumulative temperature excess, precipitation amount) are examined. The heat wave index HWI is defined to express the severity of heat waves in the most comprehensive way.
An extraordinary heat wave occurred in July and August 1994; it lasted more than a month at several stations, while the duration of a typical heat wave is only 4 - 7 days. The extremely long unbroken period of tropical days, and even of days with T MAX ≥32.0°C, represents the most distinct feature of the severe 1994 heat wave. With regard to heat wave characteristics, the summer temperature exceptionality of the early 1990s is indubitable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bassow S.L., McConnaughay K.D.M. and Bazzaz F.A., 1994: The response of temperate tree seedlings grown in elevated CO2 to extreme temperature events. Ecological Applications, 4, 593-603.
Changnon S.A., Kunkel K.E. and Reinke B.C., 1996: Impacts and responses to the 1995 heat wave: a call to action. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 1497-1506.
DeGaetano A.T., 1996: Recent trends in maximum and minimum temperature threshold exceedences in the northeastern United States. J. Climate, 9, 1646-1660.
Domonkos P., 1998: Statistical characteristics of extreme temperature anomaly groups in Hungary. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 59, 165-179.
Gershunov A. and Barnett T.P., 1998: ENSO influence on intraseasonal extreme rainfall and temperature frequencies in the contiguous United States-observations and model results. J. Climate, 11, 1575-1586.
Gregory J.M., Mitchell J.F.B. and Brady A.J., 1997: Summer drought in northern midlatitudes in a time-dependent CO2 climate experiment. J. Climate, 10, 662-686.
Hennessy K.J. and Pittock A.B., 1995: Greenhouse warming and threshold temperature events in Victoria, Australia. Int. J. Climatol., 15, 591-612.
Hennessy K.J., Gregory J.M. and Mitchell J.F.B., 1997: Changes in daily precipitation under enhanced greenhouse conditions. Climate Dyn., 13, 667-680.
Houghton J.T., Meira Filho L.G., Callander B.A., Harris N., Kattenberg A., Maskell K. (eds.), 1996: Climate Change 1995. The Science of Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 572 pp.
Huth R. and Kyselý J., 1998: A GCM simulation of heat waves in central Europe. In: The Second International Climate and History Conference. University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 7–11 September 1998, 74-75.
Huth R., Kyselý J. and Pokorná L., 1999: A GCM simulation of heat waves, dry spells, and their relationships to circulation. Climatic Change (in print).
Joubert A.M., Mason S.J. and Galpin J.S., 1996: Droughts over southern Africa in a doubled CO2 climate. Int. J. Climatol., 16, 1149-1156.
Kalvová J. and Nemešová I., 1998: Estimating autocorrelations of daily extreme temperatures in observed and simulated climates. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 59, 151-164.
Karl T.R. and Knight R.W., 1997: The 1995 Chicago heat wave: How likely is a recurrence? Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 78, 1107-1119.
Karl T.R. and Easterling D.R., 1999: Climate extremes-selected review and future-research directions. Clim. Change, 42, 309-325.
Katz R.W. and Brown B.G., 1992: Extreme events in a changing climate: Variability is more important than averages. Clim. Change, 21, 289-302.
Kirschbaum M.U.F., 1996: Ecophysiological, ecological, and soil processes in terrestrial ecosystems: A primer on general concepts and relationships. In: Watson R.T., Zinyowera M.C., Moss R.H. and Dokken D.J. (eds.), Climate Change 1995. Impacts, Adaptations and Mitigation of Climate Change: Scientific-Technical Analyses, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 57-74.
Krška K. and Munzar J., 1984: Temperature peculiarities of the tropic summer 1983 in Czechoslovakia and in Europe. Meteorol. Zpr., 37, 33-40 (in Czech).
Krška K. and Racko S., 1993: The hot summer 1992 in the Czech and the Slovak Republic; its synoptic interpretation and climatological evaluation. Meteorol. Zpr., 46, 33-41 (in Czech).
Krška K. and Racko S., 1996: Extra-ordinary hot summer 1994 in the Czech and the Slovak Republic. Meteorol. Zpr., 49, 12-21 (in Czech).
Kunkel K.E., Changnon S.A., Reinke B.C. and Arritt R.W., 1996: The July 1995 heat wave in the Midwest: A climatic perspective and critical weather factors. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 1507-1518.
Květoň V. and Reinhart M., 1994: Circulation conditions of the Czech Republic and temperature conditions in the period 1961–1990. Prague, research account, NKP CR, USCS (in Czech).
Kyselý J., 1997: Changes in secondary temperature characteristics. Diploma thesis. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague, 187 pp (in Czech).
Kyselý J. and Kalvová J., 1998: Heat waves in the south Moravian region in the period of 1961–1990. Meteorol. Zpr., 51, 65-72 (in Czech).
Mason S.J. and Joubert A.M., 1997: Simulated changes in extreme rainfall over southern Africa. Int. J. Climatol., 17, 291-301.
Mearns L.O., Katz R.W. and Schneider S.H., 1984: Extreme high temperature events: changes in their probabilities with changes in mean temperature. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 23, 1601-1608.
Míková T., 1995: Peculiarities in climatic characteristics and extreme events in 1994. Meteorol. Zpr., 48, 158-159 (in Czech).
Rohli R.V. and Keim B.D., 1994: Spatial and temporal characteristics of extreme-high-summer-temperature events in the South-Central United States. Phys. Geogr., 15, 310-324.
Sobíšek B. (ed.), 1993: Meteorological Dictionary. Academia, Prague, 594 pp (in Czech).
Steadman R.G., 1984: A universal scale of apparent temperature. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 23, 1674-1687.
Watson R.T., Zinyowera M.C., Moss R.H. and Dokken D.J. (eds.), 1996: Climate Change 1995: Impacts, Adaptations and Mitigation of Climate Change: Scientific-Technical Analyses. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 878 pp.
Whitman S., Good G., Donoghue E.R., Benbow N., Shou W.Y. and Mou S.X., 1997: Mortality in Chicago attributed to the July 1995 heat wave. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 1515-1518.
Wigley T.M.L., 1985: Impact of extreme events. Nature, 316, 106-107.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kyselý, J., Kalvová, J. & Květoň, V. Heat Waves in the South Moravian Region During the Period 1961-1995. Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica 44, 57–72 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022009924435
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022009924435