Scandinavian storminess since about 1800

Abstract

We study the history of storminess in Northern Europe, as derived from local pressure observations in Lund since 1780 and Stockholm since 1820 (Sweden). At both stations barometer readings were made three times per day, morning, midday and evening, and after about 1850 at fixed observation hours. We use four common storminess indices: annual number of deep lows (p < 980 hPa), the annual 95th and 99th percentile of pressure changes between two observations, and the annual number of fast absolute pressure changes ( Δp /Δt > 16 hPa/12 h). It turns out that the 1980's-mid 1990's were a period of enhanced storminess, mainly seen in the Stockholm record, but his period is within the natural variability of the records. Thus, there are no robust signs of any long-term trend in the storminess indices. Storminess is during the entire historical period remarkably stable, with no systematic change and little transient variability. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.