Comprehensive analysis of the climate variability in the eastern Mediterranean. Part II: relationships between atmospheric circulation patterns and surface climatic elements

Abstract

In a companion paper, the authors presented a classification of circulation types for the eastern Mediterranean region. This paper has been directed towards the interrelationships between the identified atmospheric circulation patterns and the surface climate over the study region. On the basis of the characteristic days used to construct the composites of the dominant circulation modes, surface characteristics of five surface climatic elements (daily mean, maximum and minimum temperature, diurnal temperature range and daily precipitation totals) for these days were analysed. Subsequently, composite charts were produced illustrating the surface conditions accompanying the main circulation modes. The spatial patterns of temperature were found to be more coherent and depended less on the characteristics of local topography than those for precipitation. Winter patterns generally showed more pronounced structures. Atmospheric circulation associated with anticyclonic centres, leads to invasions of cold air into the study region and rather dry conditions across the region. Conversely, cyclonic circulation brings southern maritime airflows into the area and is associated with increases in local temperatures and rainfall events. During the warm season, generally warm and dry weather is associated with most of the circulation patterns and the surface patterns do not reveal very pronounced structures. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society