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Evaluation of the areal extremeness of extreme weather events in Czechia in the period of 1961–2020
Kašpar, Marek ; Müller, Miloslav
Due to the multiplication of impacts of weather extremes when occurring in larger area, we proposed an areal approach of their evaluation. We evaluated six types of extreme weather events, namely, heat waves, cold waves, air temperature drops, windstorms, heavy precipitation, and heavy snowfalls. We employed the original method using the Weather Extremity Index derived from return periods of values of relevant meteorological variables in the affected area. Each event is characterized not only by the areal extremeness quantified with the index but also by the spatial extent and duration. In the studied period, heat and cold\nwaves generally reach higher index values in relation with larger affected area. The increase in the frequency and extremity of heat waves is in contrast with the decrease in the frequency of cold waves and significant heavy snowfalls. The frequency of windstorms is slightly decreasing with the most significant ones concentrated in the cold half-year. Air temperature drops are the most frequent in the warm half-year, nevertheless three of four top events occurred in January. The frequency of heavy precipitation tends to fluctuate. The obtained meteorological database of extreme events may help to estimate the parameters of future ones using climate models.
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