Circulation and Climate Variability in the Czech Republic between 1961 and 2020: A Comparison of Changes for Two “Normal” Periods

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Authors

BRÁZDIL Rudolf ZAHRADNÍČEK Pavel DOBROVOLNÝ Petr ŘEHOŘ Jan TRNKA Miroslav LHOTKA Ondřej ŠTĚPÁNEK Petr

Year of publication 2022
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Atmosphere
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/1/137
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010137
Keywords climate normal; circulation type; sunshine; temperature; humidity; precipitation; wind speed; statistical analysis; Czech Republic
Description Thirty-year periods are treated in climatology as spans with relatively representative and stable climatic patterns, which can be used for calculating climate normals. Annual and seasonal series of circulation types were used to compare two 30-year sub-periods, 1961–1990 and 1991–2020, the second one being strongly influenced by recent global warming. This analysis was conducted according to the objective classification of circulation types and the climatic characteristics of sunshine duration, temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind speed as calculated for the territory of the Czech Republic during the 1961–2020 period. For both sub-periods, their statistical characteristics were calculated, and the statistical significance of differences between them was evaluated. There was a statistically significant increase in the annual frequencies of anticyclonic circulation types and a significant decrease in cyclonic circulation types during 1991–2020 compared with 1961–1990. Generally, in both 30-year periods, significant differences in means, variability, characteristics of distribution, density functions, and linear trends appear for all climatic variables analysed except precipitation. This indicates that the recent 30-year “normal” period of 1991–2020, known to be influenced more by recent climate change, is by its climatic characteristics unrepresentative of the stable climatic patterns of previous 30-year periods.
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