Impact of atmospheric circulation on the occurrence of hot nights in Central Europe

Abstract

The main goal of the study is to determine the pressure conditions that cause waves of hot nights in Central Europe. The goal was implemented on the basis of data from 1966 to 2015, made available by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management-National Research Institute, DeutscherWetterdienst and the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR). A hot night was defined as a day with the minimum air temperature above 18 °C. In the analysed years, an increase in the number of hot nights was found, which was predominantly statistically significant within the studied area. The study shows that the occurrence of waves of hot nights in Central Europe was associated on average with the ridge of high pressure, within which a local high-pressure area developed. During the waves of hot nights, there were positive anomalies of heights of isobaric surfaces over the study area with a maximum in the upper troposphere.