On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in Europe

Abstract The repeated co‐occurrence of cold spells over Eastern North America and wet or windy extremes over Western Continental Europe during recent winters, has led to hypothesize a link between the two. Here, we analyze the interplay between the large‐scale atmospheric circulation and co‐occurrin...

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Main Authors: Gabriele Messori, Davide Faranda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-04-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101008
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author Gabriele Messori
Davide Faranda
author_facet Gabriele Messori
Davide Faranda
author_sort Gabriele Messori
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The repeated co‐occurrence of cold spells over Eastern North America and wet or windy extremes over Western Continental Europe during recent winters, has led to hypothesize a link between the two. Here, we analyze the interplay between the large‐scale atmospheric circulation and co‐occurring cold spells in North America and wet or windy extremes in Europe. We collectively term these occurrences compound cold–wet–windy extremes. We leverage a recent approach grounded in dynamical systems theory, which provides an analytically and computationally efficient analysis of spatially resolved, multivariate climate extremes. We find that there are specific, recurrent large‐scale atmospheric circulation patterns systematically associated with both the individual extremes and co‐occurring cold–wet–windy anomalies. Evidence for this is also found when focusing on compound cold–wet–windy extremes, although with a weaker signal. This motivates further analyses focusing specifically on the statistics and drivers of these compound extreme occurrences.
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spelling doaj-art-9fb43ed0cb9d40d1aaddea0d275e912f2025-08-20T02:04:21ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072023-04-01507n/an/a10.1029/2022GL101008On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in EuropeGabriele Messori0Davide Faranda1Department of Earth Sciences and Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science (CNDS) Uppsala University Uppsala SwedenLaboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA‐CNRS‐UVSQ Université Paris‐Saclay Gif‐sur‐Yvette FranceAbstract The repeated co‐occurrence of cold spells over Eastern North America and wet or windy extremes over Western Continental Europe during recent winters, has led to hypothesize a link between the two. Here, we analyze the interplay between the large‐scale atmospheric circulation and co‐occurring cold spells in North America and wet or windy extremes in Europe. We collectively term these occurrences compound cold–wet–windy extremes. We leverage a recent approach grounded in dynamical systems theory, which provides an analytically and computationally efficient analysis of spatially resolved, multivariate climate extremes. We find that there are specific, recurrent large‐scale atmospheric circulation patterns systematically associated with both the individual extremes and co‐occurring cold–wet–windy anomalies. Evidence for this is also found when focusing on compound cold–wet–windy extremes, although with a weaker signal. This motivates further analyses focusing specifically on the statistics and drivers of these compound extreme occurrences.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101008compound climate extremesdynamical systems theorycold spellswindstormsprecipitation
spellingShingle Gabriele Messori
Davide Faranda
On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in Europe
Geophysical Research Letters
compound climate extremes
dynamical systems theory
cold spells
windstorms
precipitation
title On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in Europe
title_full On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in Europe
title_fullStr On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in Europe
title_full_unstemmed On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in Europe
title_short On the Systematic Occurrence of Compound Cold Spells in North America and Wet or Windy Extremes in Europe
title_sort on the systematic occurrence of compound cold spells in north america and wet or windy extremes in europe
topic compound climate extremes
dynamical systems theory
cold spells
windstorms
precipitation
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101008
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