Long-term changes in precipitation phase in Czechia

Abstract

Long-term changes in precipitation phase are investigated at ten stations in Czechia. Trends are calculated from 1983 to 2018 for the period between November and April. Daily SYNOP reports and daily precipitation totals are used at every station, where number and occurrence of specific codes in SYNOP report determine daily precipitation totals as solid, combined (which represents, to a large extent, category of mixed precipitation), or liquid. Thereafter, it is possible to calculate trends of all precipitation phases as well as the proportion of solid to total precipitation (S/P; in %). The average S/P trend over all Czech stations is significantly negative (−0.60%∙year⁻¹) and accompanied by a sharp decrease in solid precipitation (−1.66 mm∙year⁻¹) and an increase in combined precipitation (1.50 mm∙year⁻¹). Thus, our results show a shift of precipitation phase from solid to combined. Because of the dependence of S/P on air temperature, we suppose that the current S/P decline is a manifestation of rising air temperatures in the past decades.