Articles | Volume 15, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1207-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1207-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
ESD Letters
| 
12 Sep 2024
ESD Letters |
| 12 Sep 2024
| 12 Sep 2024
Climatology and trends of concurrent temperature extremes in the global extratropics
Gabriele Messori
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Swedish Centre for Impacts of Climate Extremes (climes), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Department of Meteorology and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Antonio Segalini
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Alexandre M. Ramos
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Troposphere Research (IMKTRO), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
Related authors
Ni Li, Wim Thiery, Shorouq Zahra, Mariana Madruga de Brito, Koffi Worou, Murathan Kurfalı, Seppe Lampe, Paul Muñoz, Clare Flynn, Camila Trigoso, Joakim Nivre, Jakob Zscheischler, and Gabriele Messori
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2609–2636, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-2609-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-2609-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Climate extremes threaten society and ecosystems, making impact understanding critical. Wikimpacts 1.0 provides an automated pipeline processing Wikipedia texts with underexploited information on climate impacts, yielding comprehensive socio-economic impact data for 2726 climate events from 1034–2024. It offers broader storm-related impacts and finer spatial resolution than established databases, showcasing natural language processing's potential to advance climate impact data.
Michael Konrad Schutte, Leonardo Olivetti, Flavio Maria Emanuele Pons, and Gabriele Messori
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2203, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2203, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
When testing whether signals on maps are statistically meaningful, scientists must account for multiple testing. Otherwise, some results may appear significant purely by chance. We show that the widely used false discovery rate correction can be misleading: simply changing the geographic region analyzed can make the same data appear far more statistically significant, even though nothing has changed. We recommend transparent reporting and using region-wide averages instead of point-wise testing.
Florian Börgel, Itzel Ruvalcaba Baroni, Leonie Barghorn, Leonard Borchert, Bronwyn Cahill, Cyril Dutheil, Leonie Esters, Małgorzata Falarz, Helena L. Filipsson, Matthias Gröger, Jari Hänninen, Magnus Hieronymus, Erko Jakobson, Mehdi Pasha Karami, Karol Kuliński, Taavi Liblik, H. E. Markus Meier, Gabriele Messori, Lev Naumov, Thomas Neumann, Piia Post, Gregor Rehder, Anna Rutgersson, and Georg Sebastian Voelker
Earth Syst. Dynam., 17, 415–450, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-415-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-415-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
This review explains how weather patterns, guided by the polar jet stream, influence the Baltic Sea’s climate and ecosystem. It covers the North Atlantic Oscillation, blocking events and other processes and discusses how they affect temperature, rainfall, and storms from days to decades. These shifts then impact oxygen levels, productivity, and acidification in the Baltic Sea. Physical links are fairly well known, but biogeochemical pathways remain uncertain.
Aleksa Stanković, Rodrigo Caballero, and Gabriele Messori
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1649, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1649, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Most storms occur over ocean where they cause strong surface winds. The storms are strongest over the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Ocean. In each of these basins, the storms that cause the strongest surface winds develop similarly. These storms typically develop together with another, previously existing storm. At the same time, extreme winds are stronger in some basins than in others. Our analysis points that if the storms develop faster, they, on average, cause stronger winds.
Valerio Lembo, Gabriele Messori, Davide Faranda, Vera Melinda Galfi, Rune Grand Graversen, and Flavio Emanuele Pons
Weather Clim. Dynam., 7, 453–473, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-453-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-453-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Hemispheric heatwaves have fundamental implications for ecosystems and societies. They are studied together with large-scale atmospheric dynamics, through the lens of poleward heat transports by planetary-scale waves. Extremely weak transports of heat towards the North Pole are found to be associated with hemispheric heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. Therefore, we conclude that heat transports are a possible indicator and a precursor of concurrent hemispheric heatwaves.
Gabriele Messori, Emily Boyd, Joakim Nivre, and Elena Raffetti
Earth Syst. Dynam., 17, 199–208, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-199-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-199-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding impacts of climate extremes is very important for society and the economy. We identify three challenges restricting this understanding: limited availability and quality of impact data, difficulties in understanding why given impacts occur and lack of reliable projections of future impacts. We also identify key opportunities, including newly released datasets, recent methodological and technical advances and interdisciplinary collaborations between the social and natural sciences.
William J. M. Seviour, Justin Finkel, Philip Rupp, Regan Mudhar, Amy H. Butler, Chaim I. Garfinkel, Peter Hitchcock, Blanca Ayarzagüena, Dong-Chan Hong, Yu-Kyung Hyun, Hera Kim, Eun-Pa Lim, Daniel De Maeseneire, Gabriele Messori, Gerbrand Koren, Michael Sigmond, Isla R. Simpson, and Seok-Woo Son
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-230, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-230, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Variability of the stratospheric polar vortex is thought to play a role in driving weather extremes, but quantifying this role for a given event has proved challenging. Using a new set of perturbed subseasonal forecast experiments from 7 modelling centres we determine the stratospheric contribution to the risk and severity of three recent extreme weather events. The forecast-based methodology that we develop is applicable to understanding a range of other drivers of weather extremes.
Alok Kumar Samantaray and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-646, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-646, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
We present a global dataset that links drought events to human and economic exposure and impacts. Using a two-step approach, we first cluster drought events from precipitation and temperature records to track their severity and extent, and then connect them to population and Gross Domestic Product exposure and to impacts reported in disaster databases. The dataset supports risk planning and mitigation efforts.
Sara Lindersson and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 6379–6403, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6379-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6379-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The study of past temperature-related disasters requires information on socioeconomic impacts, hazard intensity and human exposure. This is often lacking in current disaster databases. Our dataset fills this gap by integrating impact records with information on disaster locations, high-resolution meteorological data, and population estimates. Covering 382 disasters in 71 countries (1979–2018), this dataset enables deeper analyses of heat-related risk and vulnerabilities.
Meriem Krouma and Gabriele Messori
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3662, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3662, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present two forecasting methods for extreme precipitation and wind in Europe, using stochastic weather generators and past atmospheric patterns. One targets precipitation via weather model reforecasts; the other predicts wind from large-scale patterns. Both outperform standard weather models up to 10 days ahead, offering improved accuracy for both individual and compound extreme events.
Kai Kornuber, Emanuele Bevacqua, Mariana Madruga de Brito, Wiebke S. Jäger, Pauline Rivoire, Cassandra D. W. Rogers, Fabiola Banfi, Fulden Batibeniz, James Carruthers, Carlo de Michele, Silvia de Angeli, Cristina Deidda, Marleen C. de Ruiter, Andreas H. Fink, Henrique M. D. Goulart, Katharina Küpfer, Patrick Ludwig, Douglas Maraun, Gabriele Messori, Shruti Nath, Fiachra O’Loughlin, Joaquim G. Pinto, Benjamin Poschlod, Alexandre M. Ramos, Colin Raymond, Andreia F. S. Ribeiro, Deepti Singh, Laura Suarez Gutierrez, Philip J. Ward, and Christopher J. White
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4683, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4683, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Impacts from extreme weather events are becoming increasingly severe under global warming, in particular when events occur simultaneously or successively. While these complex event combinations are often difficult to analyse as impact data, early warning schemes or modelling frameworks might not be fit for purpose. In this perspective we reflect on the usability of compound event research to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world applications, by formulating a set of guidelines.
Sina Loriani, Yevgeny Aksenov, David I. Armstrong McKay, Govindasamy Bala, Andreas Born, Cristiano Mazur Chiessi, Henk A. Dijkstra, Jonathan F. Donges, Sybren Drijfhout, Matthew H. England, Alexey V. Fedorov, Laura C. Jackson, Kai Kornhuber, Gabriele Messori, Francesco S. R. Pausata, Stefanie Rynders, Jean-Baptiste Sallée, Bablu Sinha, Steven C. Sherwood, Didier Swingedouw, and Thejna Tharammal
Earth Syst. Dynam., 16, 1611–1653, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1611-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1611-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, we draw on palaeo-records, observations, and modelling studies to review tipping points in the ocean overturning circulations, monsoon systems, and global atmospheric circulations. We find indications for tipping in the ocean overturning circulations and the West African monsoon, with potentially severe impacts on the Earth system and humans. Tipping in the other considered systems is regarded as conceivable but is currently not sufficiently supported by evidence.
Clare M. Flynn, Julia Moemken, Joaquim G. Pinto, Michael K. Schutte, and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 4431–4453, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4431-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4431-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We created a new, publicly available, database of the top 50 most extreme European winter windstorms from each of four different meteorological input data sets covering the years 1995–2015. We found variability in all aspects of our database, from which storms were included in the top 50 storms for each input to the storms' spatial variability. We urge users of our database to consider the storms as identified from two or more input sources within our database where possible.
Michael K. Schutte, Alice Portal, Simon H. Lee, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 6, 521–548, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-521-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-521-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Large-scale motions in the atmosphere, namely atmospheric waves, greatly impact the weather that we experience at the Earth's surface. Here we investigate how waves in the troposphere (the lower 10 km of the atmosphere) and the stratosphere (above the troposphere) interact to affect surface weather. We find that tropospheric waves that are reflected back down by the stratosphere change weather patterns and temperatures in North America. These changes can indirectly affect the weather in Europe.
Ferran Lopez-Marti, Mireia Ginesta, Davide Faranda, Anna Rutgersson, Pascal Yiou, Lichuan Wu, and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Dynam., 16, 169–187, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-169-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-169-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Explosive cyclones and atmospheric rivers are two main drivers of extreme weather in Europe. In this study, we investigate their joint changes in future climates over the North Atlantic. Our results show that both the concurrence of these events and the intensity of atmospheric rivers increase by the end of the century across different future scenarios. Furthermore, explosive cyclones associated with atmospheric rivers last longer and are deeper than those without atmospheric rivers.
Leonardo Olivetti and Gabriele Messori
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7915–7962, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7915-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7915-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Data-driven models are becoming a viable alternative to physics-based models for weather forecasting up to 15 d into the future. However, it is unclear whether they are as reliable as physics-based models when forecasting weather extremes. We evaluate their performance in forecasting near-surface cold, hot, and windy extremes globally. We find that data-driven models can compete with physics-based models and that the choice of the best model mainly depends on the region and type of extreme.
Marco Gaetani, Gabriele Messori, Francesco S. R. Pausata, Shivangi Tiwari, M. Carmen Alvarez Castro, and Qiong Zhang
Clim. Past, 20, 1735–1759, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1735-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1735-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Palaeoclimate reconstructions suggest that, around 6000 years ago, a greening of the Sahara took place, accompanied by climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere at middle to high latitudes. In this study, a climate model is used to investigate how this drastic environmental change in the Sahara impacted remote regions. Specifically, climate simulations reveal significant modifications in atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic, affecting North American and European climates.
Antonio Segalini, Jacopo Riboldi, Volkmar Wirth, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 997–1012, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-997-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-997-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Planetary Rossby waves are created by topography and evolve in time. In this work, an analytical solution of this classical problem is proposed under the approximation of linear wave dynamics. The theory is able to describe reasonably well the evolution of the perturbation and compares well with full nonlinear simulations. Several relevant cases with single and double zonal jets are assessed with the theoretical framework
Davide Faranda, Gabriele Messori, Erika Coppola, Tommaso Alberti, Mathieu Vrac, Flavio Pons, Pascal Yiou, Marion Saint Lu, Andreia N. S. Hisi, Patrick Brockmann, Stavros Dafis, Gianmarco Mengaldo, and Robert Vautard
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 959–983, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-959-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-959-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce ClimaMeter, a tool offering real-time insights into extreme-weather events. Our tool unveils how climate change and natural variability affect these events, affecting communities worldwide. Our research equips policymakers and the public with essential knowledge, fostering informed decisions and enhancing climate resilience. We analysed two distinct events, showcasing ClimaMeter's global relevance.
Aleksa Stanković, Gabriele Messori, Joaquim G. Pinto, and Rodrigo Caballero
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 821–837, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-821-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-821-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The article studies extreme winds near the surface over the North Atlantic Ocean. These winds are caused by storms that pass through this region. The strongest storms that have occurred in the winters from 1950–2020 are studied in detail and compared to weaker but still strong storms. The analysis shows that the storms associated with the strongest winds are preceded by another older storm that travelled through the same region and made the conditions suitable for development of extreme winds.
Derrick Muheki, Axel A. J. Deijns, Emanuele Bevacqua, Gabriele Messori, Jakob Zscheischler, and Wim Thiery
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 429–466, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-429-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change affects the interaction, dependence, and joint occurrence of climate extremes. Here we investigate the joint occurrence of pairs of river floods, droughts, heatwaves, crop failures, wildfires, and tropical cyclones in East Africa under past and future climate conditions. Our results show that, across all future warming scenarios, the frequency and spatial extent of these co-occurring extremes will increase in this region, particularly in areas close to the Nile and Congo rivers.
Leonardo Olivetti and Gabriele Messori
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2347–2358, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2347-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2347-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the last decades, weather forecasting up to 15 d into the future has been dominated by physics-based numerical models. Recently, deep learning models have challenged this paradigm. However, the latter models may struggle when forecasting weather extremes. In this article, we argue for deep learning models specifically designed to handle extreme events, and we propose a foundational framework to develop such models.
Emma Holmberg, Gabriele Messori, Rodrigo Caballero, and Davide Faranda
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 737–765, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-737-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-737-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We analyse the duration of large-scale patterns of air movement in the atmosphere, referred to as persistence, and whether unusually persistent patterns favour warm-temperature extremes in Europe. We see no clear relationship between summertime heatwaves and unusually persistent patterns. This suggests that heatwaves do not necessarily require the continued flow of warm air over a region and that local effects could be important for their occurrence.
Axel Kleidon, Gabriele Messori, Somnath Baidya Roy, Ira Didenkulova, and Ning Zeng
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 241–242, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-241-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-241-2023, 2023
Patrick Johannes Stoll, Rune Grand Graversen, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The atmosphere is in motion and hereby transporting warm, cold, moist, and dry air to different climate zones. In this study, we investigate how this transport of energy organises in different manners. Outside the tropics, atmospheric waves of sizes between 2000 and 8000 km, which we perceive as cyclones from the surface, transport most of the energy and moisture poleward. In the winter, large-scale weather situations become very important for transporting energy into the polar regions.
Davide Faranda, Stella Bourdin, Mireia Ginesta, Meriem Krouma, Robin Noyelle, Flavio Pons, Pascal Yiou, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1311–1340, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1311-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1311-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We analyze the atmospheric circulation leading to impactful extreme events for the calendar year 2021 such as the Storm Filomena, Westphalia floods, Hurricane Ida and Medicane Apollo. For some of the events, we find that climate change has contributed to their occurrence or enhanced their intensity; for other events, we find that they are unprecedented. Our approach underscores the importance of considering changes in the atmospheric circulation when performing attribution studies.
Gabriele Messori, Marlene Kretschmer, Simon H. Lee, and Vivien Wendt
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1215–1236, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1215-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1215-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Over 10 km above the ground, there is a region of the atmosphere called the stratosphere. While there is very little air in the stratosphere itself, its interactions with the lower parts of the atmosphere – where we live – can affect the weather. Here we study a specific example of such an interaction, whereby processes occurring at the boundary of the stratosphere can lead to a continent-wide drop in temperatures in North America during winter.
Valerio Lembo, Federico Fabiano, Vera Melinda Galfi, Rune Grand Graversen, Valerio Lucarini, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1037–1062, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1037-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1037-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Eddies in mid-latitudes characterize the exchange of heat between the tropics and the poles. This exchange is largely uneven, with a few extreme events bearing most of the heat transported across latitudes in a season. It is thus important to understand what the dynamical mechanisms are behind these events. Here, we identify recurrent weather regime patterns associated with extreme transports, and we identify scales of mid-latitudinal eddies that are mostly responsible for the transport.
Assaf Hochman, Francesco Marra, Gabriele Messori, Joaquim G. Pinto, Shira Raveh-Rubin, Yizhak Yosef, and Georgios Zittis
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 749–777, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-749-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-749-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Gaining a complete understanding of extreme weather, from its physical drivers to its impacts on society, is important in supporting future risk reduction and adaptation measures. Here, we provide a review of the available scientific literature, knowledge gaps and key open questions in the study of extreme weather events over the vulnerable eastern Mediterranean region.
Francesco S. R. Pausata, Gabriele Messori, Jayoung Yun, Chetankumar A. Jalihal, Massimo A. Bollasina, and Thomas M. Marchitto
Clim. Past, 17, 1243–1271, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1243-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Far-afield changes in vegetation such as those that occurred over the Sahara during the middle Holocene and the consequent changes in dust emissions can affect the intensity of the South Asian Monsoon (SAM) rainfall and the lengthening of the monsoon season. This remote influence is mediated by anomalies in Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures and may have shaped the evolution of the SAM during the termination of the African Humid Period.
Ni Li, Wim Thiery, Shorouq Zahra, Mariana Madruga de Brito, Koffi Worou, Murathan Kurfalı, Seppe Lampe, Paul Muñoz, Clare Flynn, Camila Trigoso, Joakim Nivre, Jakob Zscheischler, and Gabriele Messori
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2609–2636, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-2609-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-2609-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Climate extremes threaten society and ecosystems, making impact understanding critical. Wikimpacts 1.0 provides an automated pipeline processing Wikipedia texts with underexploited information on climate impacts, yielding comprehensive socio-economic impact data for 2726 climate events from 1034–2024. It offers broader storm-related impacts and finer spatial resolution than established databases, showcasing natural language processing's potential to advance climate impact data.
Michael Konrad Schutte, Leonardo Olivetti, Flavio Maria Emanuele Pons, and Gabriele Messori
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2203, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2203, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
When testing whether signals on maps are statistically meaningful, scientists must account for multiple testing. Otherwise, some results may appear significant purely by chance. We show that the widely used false discovery rate correction can be misleading: simply changing the geographic region analyzed can make the same data appear far more statistically significant, even though nothing has changed. We recommend transparent reporting and using region-wide averages instead of point-wise testing.
Florian Börgel, Itzel Ruvalcaba Baroni, Leonie Barghorn, Leonard Borchert, Bronwyn Cahill, Cyril Dutheil, Leonie Esters, Małgorzata Falarz, Helena L. Filipsson, Matthias Gröger, Jari Hänninen, Magnus Hieronymus, Erko Jakobson, Mehdi Pasha Karami, Karol Kuliński, Taavi Liblik, H. E. Markus Meier, Gabriele Messori, Lev Naumov, Thomas Neumann, Piia Post, Gregor Rehder, Anna Rutgersson, and Georg Sebastian Voelker
Earth Syst. Dynam., 17, 415–450, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-415-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-415-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
This review explains how weather patterns, guided by the polar jet stream, influence the Baltic Sea’s climate and ecosystem. It covers the North Atlantic Oscillation, blocking events and other processes and discusses how they affect temperature, rainfall, and storms from days to decades. These shifts then impact oxygen levels, productivity, and acidification in the Baltic Sea. Physical links are fairly well known, but biogeochemical pathways remain uncertain.
Tiago M. Ferreira, Ricardo M. Trigo, Joaquim G. Pinto, Julian Quinting, Svenja Christ, and Alexandre M. Ramos
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2313, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2313, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Weather and Climate Dynamics (WCD).
Short summary
Short summary
The study analyses how atmospheric river characteristics change in relation to warm conveyor belt ascent and how these changes evolve over the extratropical cyclone lifecycle. Using reanalysis data, we show that the ascent intensifies both the moisture content and precipitation values within the atmospheric river, and that this intensification occurs around the maximum deepening point of the extratropical cyclone. These can improve weather forecasts and early warnings for floods in Europe.
Marinos Manolesos, Sandrine Aubrun, Christian Bak, Paolo Bettini, Filippo Campagnolo, Alessandro Croce, Arslan Salim Dar, Michael Hölling, Stefan Ivanell, Konstantinos Kellaris, Miguel Alfonso Mendez, Pierluigi Montinari, Franz Mühle, George Papadakis, Fernardo Porté-Agel, Daniele Ragni, Sebastiano Randino, Andrea Sciacchitano, Lorenzo Schena, Gerard Schepers, Antonio Segalini, Wei Yu, and Carlo Luigi Bottasso
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2026-51, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2026-51, 2026
Preprint under review for WES
Short summary
Short summary
As wind turbines grow to unprecedented sizes, ensuring their reliability requires advanced testing. We reviewed the current state of wind tunnel experiments, examining how scaled physical models are evaluated for wind flow, flexibility, and noise. We conclude that while laboratory testing remains essential, it is most powerful when integrated with computer simulations and real-world data. This combined approach will ultimately drive the design of more efficient and sustainable wind energy.
Aleksa Stanković, Rodrigo Caballero, and Gabriele Messori
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1649, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1649, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Most storms occur over ocean where they cause strong surface winds. The storms are strongest over the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Ocean. In each of these basins, the storms that cause the strongest surface winds develop similarly. These storms typically develop together with another, previously existing storm. At the same time, extreme winds are stronger in some basins than in others. Our analysis points that if the storms develop faster, they, on average, cause stronger winds.
Valerio Lembo, Gabriele Messori, Davide Faranda, Vera Melinda Galfi, Rune Grand Graversen, and Flavio Emanuele Pons
Weather Clim. Dynam., 7, 453–473, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-453-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-453-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Hemispheric heatwaves have fundamental implications for ecosystems and societies. They are studied together with large-scale atmospheric dynamics, through the lens of poleward heat transports by planetary-scale waves. Extremely weak transports of heat towards the North Pole are found to be associated with hemispheric heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. Therefore, we conclude that heat transports are a possible indicator and a precursor of concurrent hemispheric heatwaves.
Davide Medici, Arianna Tonna, and Antonio Segalini
Wind Energ. Sci., 11, 723–735, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-723-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-723-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Starting from existing offshore projects in the Mediterranean Sea, we utilized the CERRA (Copernicus European Regional Reanalysis) dataset to analyze historical wind data and applied a genetic algorithm to propose a preliminary layout for a large number of farms. A significant part of our study involves the use of Monte Carlo simulations to project future energy scenarios. These simulations consider various factors, including technical challenges, wind patterns, turbine characteristics, and array efficiency affected by wake effects.
Gabriele Messori, Emily Boyd, Joakim Nivre, and Elena Raffetti
Earth Syst. Dynam., 17, 199–208, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-199-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-199-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding impacts of climate extremes is very important for society and the economy. We identify three challenges restricting this understanding: limited availability and quality of impact data, difficulties in understanding why given impacts occur and lack of reliable projections of future impacts. We also identify key opportunities, including newly released datasets, recent methodological and technical advances and interdisciplinary collaborations between the social and natural sciences.
William J. M. Seviour, Justin Finkel, Philip Rupp, Regan Mudhar, Amy H. Butler, Chaim I. Garfinkel, Peter Hitchcock, Blanca Ayarzagüena, Dong-Chan Hong, Yu-Kyung Hyun, Hera Kim, Eun-Pa Lim, Daniel De Maeseneire, Gabriele Messori, Gerbrand Koren, Michael Sigmond, Isla R. Simpson, and Seok-Woo Son
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-230, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-230, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Variability of the stratospheric polar vortex is thought to play a role in driving weather extremes, but quantifying this role for a given event has proved challenging. Using a new set of perturbed subseasonal forecast experiments from 7 modelling centres we determine the stratospheric contribution to the risk and severity of three recent extreme weather events. The forecast-based methodology that we develop is applicable to understanding a range of other drivers of weather extremes.
Alok Kumar Samantaray and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-646, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-646, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
We present a global dataset that links drought events to human and economic exposure and impacts. Using a two-step approach, we first cluster drought events from precipitation and temperature records to track their severity and extent, and then connect them to population and Gross Domestic Product exposure and to impacts reported in disaster databases. The dataset supports risk planning and mitigation efforts.
A. Serkan Bayar, Joaquim G. Pinto, Célia M. Gouveia, and Alexandre M. Ramos
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6004, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6004, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Europe is warming faster than the global average, raising concerns about future wildfire risks. Using regional climate models, we find that extreme fire weather is projected to become more severe, more frequent, and more widespread across the continent, especially if global warming reaches 3 °C. The projected increase is mainly linked to a drier atmosphere. Our findings underscore the urgent need to adopt proactive forest management practices to protect vulnerable ecosystems and communities.
Sara Lindersson and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 6379–6403, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6379-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6379-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The study of past temperature-related disasters requires information on socioeconomic impacts, hazard intensity and human exposure. This is often lacking in current disaster databases. Our dataset fills this gap by integrating impact records with information on disaster locations, high-resolution meteorological data, and population estimates. Covering 382 disasters in 71 countries (1979–2018), this dataset enables deeper analyses of heat-related risk and vulnerabilities.
Meriem Krouma and Gabriele Messori
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3662, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3662, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present two forecasting methods for extreme precipitation and wind in Europe, using stochastic weather generators and past atmospheric patterns. One targets precipitation via weather model reforecasts; the other predicts wind from large-scale patterns. Both outperform standard weather models up to 10 days ahead, offering improved accuracy for both individual and compound extreme events.
Kai Kornuber, Emanuele Bevacqua, Mariana Madruga de Brito, Wiebke S. Jäger, Pauline Rivoire, Cassandra D. W. Rogers, Fabiola Banfi, Fulden Batibeniz, James Carruthers, Carlo de Michele, Silvia de Angeli, Cristina Deidda, Marleen C. de Ruiter, Andreas H. Fink, Henrique M. D. Goulart, Katharina Küpfer, Patrick Ludwig, Douglas Maraun, Gabriele Messori, Shruti Nath, Fiachra O’Loughlin, Joaquim G. Pinto, Benjamin Poschlod, Alexandre M. Ramos, Colin Raymond, Andreia F. S. Ribeiro, Deepti Singh, Laura Suarez Gutierrez, Philip J. Ward, and Christopher J. White
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4683, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4683, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Impacts from extreme weather events are becoming increasingly severe under global warming, in particular when events occur simultaneously or successively. While these complex event combinations are often difficult to analyse as impact data, early warning schemes or modelling frameworks might not be fit for purpose. In this perspective we reflect on the usability of compound event research to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world applications, by formulating a set of guidelines.
Sina Loriani, Yevgeny Aksenov, David I. Armstrong McKay, Govindasamy Bala, Andreas Born, Cristiano Mazur Chiessi, Henk A. Dijkstra, Jonathan F. Donges, Sybren Drijfhout, Matthew H. England, Alexey V. Fedorov, Laura C. Jackson, Kai Kornhuber, Gabriele Messori, Francesco S. R. Pausata, Stefanie Rynders, Jean-Baptiste Sallée, Bablu Sinha, Steven C. Sherwood, Didier Swingedouw, and Thejna Tharammal
Earth Syst. Dynam., 16, 1611–1653, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1611-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1611-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, we draw on palaeo-records, observations, and modelling studies to review tipping points in the ocean overturning circulations, monsoon systems, and global atmospheric circulations. We find indications for tipping in the ocean overturning circulations and the West African monsoon, with potentially severe impacts on the Earth system and humans. Tipping in the other considered systems is regarded as conceivable but is currently not sufficiently supported by evidence.
Clare M. Flynn, Julia Moemken, Joaquim G. Pinto, Michael K. Schutte, and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 4431–4453, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4431-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4431-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We created a new, publicly available, database of the top 50 most extreme European winter windstorms from each of four different meteorological input data sets covering the years 1995–2015. We found variability in all aspects of our database, from which storms were included in the top 50 storms for each input to the storms' spatial variability. We urge users of our database to consider the storms as identified from two or more input sources within our database where possible.
Derek Micheletto, Jens Fransson, and Antonio Segalini
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-135, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-135, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
Short summary
Short summary
We conducted wind-tunnel experiments on 9 wind turbine models and measured their power while intentionally yawing them away from the wind direction. By testing a broad range of yaw-angle combinations, we found that this method can increase the total power output by up to 5.3 %. We also observed how different columns of turbines respond uniquely to these changes and how wind speed affects the overall improvement. Our findings could be useful in developing more accurate wind-farm control models.
Patricia Coll-Hidalgo, Raquel Nieto, Alexandre Ramos, Patrick Ludwig, and Luis Gimeno
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1775, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1775, 2025
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses Lagrangian moisture tracking and high-resolution weather simulations to trace moisture sources for Storm Ianos (Sept 2020). The analysis identified the Ionian Basin and southwestern Balkans as the primary sources, with secondary contributions from the surrounding seas. Large transport moisture traveled via three main pathways, with the Marmara-Black Sea route most significant. For record-breaking rainfall local evaporation over Greece and the Ionian Sea dominated moisture uptake.
Michael K. Schutte, Alice Portal, Simon H. Lee, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 6, 521–548, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-521-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-521-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Large-scale motions in the atmosphere, namely atmospheric waves, greatly impact the weather that we experience at the Earth's surface. Here we investigate how waves in the troposphere (the lower 10 km of the atmosphere) and the stratosphere (above the troposphere) interact to affect surface weather. We find that tropospheric waves that are reflected back down by the stratosphere change weather patterns and temperatures in North America. These changes can indirectly affect the weather in Europe.
Tiago M. Ferreira, Ricardo M. Trigo, Tomás H. Gaspar, Joaquim G. Pinto, and Alexandre M. Ramos
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 609–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-609-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-609-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the synoptic evolution associated with the occurrence of an atmospheric river that led to a 24 h record-breaking extreme precipitation event (120.3 mm) in Lisbon, Portugal, on 13 December 2022. The synoptic background allowed the formation, on 10 December, of an atmospheric river associated with a deep extratropical cyclone and with a high moisture content and an inflow of moisture, due to the warm conveyor belt, throughout its life cycle. The system made landfall on 12 December.
Ferran Lopez-Marti, Mireia Ginesta, Davide Faranda, Anna Rutgersson, Pascal Yiou, Lichuan Wu, and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Dynam., 16, 169–187, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-169-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-169-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Explosive cyclones and atmospheric rivers are two main drivers of extreme weather in Europe. In this study, we investigate their joint changes in future climates over the North Atlantic. Our results show that both the concurrence of these events and the intensity of atmospheric rivers increase by the end of the century across different future scenarios. Furthermore, explosive cyclones associated with atmospheric rivers last longer and are deeper than those without atmospheric rivers.
Leonardo Olivetti and Gabriele Messori
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7915–7962, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7915-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7915-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Data-driven models are becoming a viable alternative to physics-based models for weather forecasting up to 15 d into the future. However, it is unclear whether they are as reliable as physics-based models when forecasting weather extremes. We evaluate their performance in forecasting near-surface cold, hot, and windy extremes globally. We find that data-driven models can compete with physics-based models and that the choice of the best model mainly depends on the region and type of extreme.
Julia Moemken, Inovasita Alifdini, Alexandre M. Ramos, Alexandros Georgiadis, Aidan Brocklehurst, Lukas Braun, and Joaquim G. Pinto
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3445–3460, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3445-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3445-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
European windstorms regularly cause damage to natural and human-made environments, leading to high socio-economic losses. For the first time, we compare estimates of these losses using a meteorological loss index (LI) and the insurance loss (catastrophe) model of Aon Impact Forecasting. We find that LI underestimates high-impact windstorms compared to the insurance model. Nonetheless, due to its simplicity, LI is an effective index, suitable for estimating impacts and ranking storm events.
Fabiola Banfi, Emanuele Bevacqua, Pauline Rivoire, Sérgio C. Oliveira, Joaquim G. Pinto, Alexandre M. Ramos, and Carlo De Michele
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2689–2704, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2689-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2689-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Landslides are complex phenomena causing important impacts in vulnerable areas, and they are often triggered by rainfall. Here, we develop a new approach that uses information on the temporal clustering of rainfall, i.e. multiple events close in time, to detect landslide events and compare it with the use of classical empirical rainfall thresholds, considering as a case study the region of Lisbon, Portugal. The results could help to improve the prediction of rainfall-triggered landslides.
Marco Gaetani, Gabriele Messori, Francesco S. R. Pausata, Shivangi Tiwari, M. Carmen Alvarez Castro, and Qiong Zhang
Clim. Past, 20, 1735–1759, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1735-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1735-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Palaeoclimate reconstructions suggest that, around 6000 years ago, a greening of the Sahara took place, accompanied by climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere at middle to high latitudes. In this study, a climate model is used to investigate how this drastic environmental change in the Sahara impacted remote regions. Specifically, climate simulations reveal significant modifications in atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic, affecting North American and European climates.
Antonio Segalini, Jacopo Riboldi, Volkmar Wirth, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 997–1012, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-997-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-997-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Planetary Rossby waves are created by topography and evolve in time. In this work, an analytical solution of this classical problem is proposed under the approximation of linear wave dynamics. The theory is able to describe reasonably well the evolution of the perturbation and compares well with full nonlinear simulations. Several relevant cases with single and double zonal jets are assessed with the theoretical framework
Davide Faranda, Gabriele Messori, Erika Coppola, Tommaso Alberti, Mathieu Vrac, Flavio Pons, Pascal Yiou, Marion Saint Lu, Andreia N. S. Hisi, Patrick Brockmann, Stavros Dafis, Gianmarco Mengaldo, and Robert Vautard
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 959–983, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-959-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-959-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce ClimaMeter, a tool offering real-time insights into extreme-weather events. Our tool unveils how climate change and natural variability affect these events, affecting communities worldwide. Our research equips policymakers and the public with essential knowledge, fostering informed decisions and enhancing climate resilience. We analysed two distinct events, showcasing ClimaMeter's global relevance.
Aleksa Stanković, Gabriele Messori, Joaquim G. Pinto, and Rodrigo Caballero
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 821–837, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-821-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-821-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The article studies extreme winds near the surface over the North Atlantic Ocean. These winds are caused by storms that pass through this region. The strongest storms that have occurred in the winters from 1950–2020 are studied in detail and compared to weaker but still strong storms. The analysis shows that the storms associated with the strongest winds are preceded by another older storm that travelled through the same region and made the conditions suitable for development of extreme winds.
Derrick Muheki, Axel A. J. Deijns, Emanuele Bevacqua, Gabriele Messori, Jakob Zscheischler, and Wim Thiery
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 429–466, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-429-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change affects the interaction, dependence, and joint occurrence of climate extremes. Here we investigate the joint occurrence of pairs of river floods, droughts, heatwaves, crop failures, wildfires, and tropical cyclones in East Africa under past and future climate conditions. Our results show that, across all future warming scenarios, the frequency and spatial extent of these co-occurring extremes will increase in this region, particularly in areas close to the Nile and Congo rivers.
Leonardo Olivetti and Gabriele Messori
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2347–2358, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2347-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2347-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the last decades, weather forecasting up to 15 d into the future has been dominated by physics-based numerical models. Recently, deep learning models have challenged this paradigm. However, the latter models may struggle when forecasting weather extremes. In this article, we argue for deep learning models specifically designed to handle extreme events, and we propose a foundational framework to develop such models.
Diego Fernández-Nóvoa, Alexandre M. Ramos, José González-Cao, Orlando García-Feal, Cristina Catita, Moncho Gómez-Gesteira, and Ricardo M. Trigo
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 609–630, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-609-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-609-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The present study focuses on an in-depth analysis of floods in the lower section of the Tagus River from a hydrodynamic perspective by means of the Iber+ numerical model and on the development of dam operating strategies to mitigate flood episodes using the exceptional floods of February 1979 as a benchmark. The results corroborate the model's capability to evaluate floods in the study area and confirm the effectiveness of the proposed strategies to reduce flood impact in the lower Tagus valley.
Emma Holmberg, Gabriele Messori, Rodrigo Caballero, and Davide Faranda
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 737–765, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-737-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-737-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We analyse the duration of large-scale patterns of air movement in the atmosphere, referred to as persistence, and whether unusually persistent patterns favour warm-temperature extremes in Europe. We see no clear relationship between summertime heatwaves and unusually persistent patterns. This suggests that heatwaves do not necessarily require the continued flow of warm air over a region and that local effects could be important for their occurrence.
Axel Kleidon, Gabriele Messori, Somnath Baidya Roy, Ira Didenkulova, and Ning Zeng
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 241–242, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-241-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-241-2023, 2023
Patrick Johannes Stoll, Rune Grand Graversen, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The atmosphere is in motion and hereby transporting warm, cold, moist, and dry air to different climate zones. In this study, we investigate how this transport of energy organises in different manners. Outside the tropics, atmospheric waves of sizes between 2000 and 8000 km, which we perceive as cyclones from the surface, transport most of the energy and moisture poleward. In the winter, large-scale weather situations become very important for transporting energy into the polar regions.
Davide Faranda, Stella Bourdin, Mireia Ginesta, Meriem Krouma, Robin Noyelle, Flavio Pons, Pascal Yiou, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1311–1340, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1311-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1311-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We analyze the atmospheric circulation leading to impactful extreme events for the calendar year 2021 such as the Storm Filomena, Westphalia floods, Hurricane Ida and Medicane Apollo. For some of the events, we find that climate change has contributed to their occurrence or enhanced their intensity; for other events, we find that they are unprecedented. Our approach underscores the importance of considering changes in the atmospheric circulation when performing attribution studies.
Gabriele Messori, Marlene Kretschmer, Simon H. Lee, and Vivien Wendt
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1215–1236, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1215-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1215-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Over 10 km above the ground, there is a region of the atmosphere called the stratosphere. While there is very little air in the stratosphere itself, its interactions with the lower parts of the atmosphere – where we live – can affect the weather. Here we study a specific example of such an interaction, whereby processes occurring at the boundary of the stratosphere can lead to a continent-wide drop in temperatures in North America during winter.
Valerio Lembo, Federico Fabiano, Vera Melinda Galfi, Rune Grand Graversen, Valerio Lucarini, and Gabriele Messori
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1037–1062, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1037-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1037-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Eddies in mid-latitudes characterize the exchange of heat between the tropics and the poles. This exchange is largely uneven, with a few extreme events bearing most of the heat transported across latitudes in a season. It is thus important to understand what the dynamical mechanisms are behind these events. Here, we identify recurrent weather regime patterns associated with extreme transports, and we identify scales of mid-latitudinal eddies that are mostly responsible for the transport.
Assaf Hochman, Francesco Marra, Gabriele Messori, Joaquim G. Pinto, Shira Raveh-Rubin, Yizhak Yosef, and Georgios Zittis
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 749–777, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-749-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-749-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Gaining a complete understanding of extreme weather, from its physical drivers to its impacts on society, is important in supporting future risk reduction and adaptation measures. Here, we provide a review of the available scientific literature, knowledge gaps and key open questions in the study of extreme weather events over the vulnerable eastern Mediterranean region.
Lisa-Ann Kautz, Olivia Martius, Stephan Pfahl, Joaquim G. Pinto, Alexandre M. Ramos, Pedro M. Sousa, and Tim Woollings
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 305–336, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-305-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-305-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric blocking is associated with stationary, self-sustaining and long-lasting high-pressure systems. They can cause or at least influence surface weather extremes, such as heat waves, cold spells, heavy precipitation events, droughts or wind extremes. The location of the blocking determines where and what type of extreme event will occur. These relationships are also important for weather prediction and may change due to global warming.
Francesco S. R. Pausata, Gabriele Messori, Jayoung Yun, Chetankumar A. Jalihal, Massimo A. Bollasina, and Thomas M. Marchitto
Clim. Past, 17, 1243–1271, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1243-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Far-afield changes in vegetation such as those that occurred over the Sahara during the middle Holocene and the consequent changes in dust emissions can affect the intensity of the South Asian Monsoon (SAM) rainfall and the lengthening of the monsoon season. This remote influence is mediated by anomalies in Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures and may have shaped the evolution of the SAM during the termination of the African Humid Period.
Cited articles
Allen, M. J. and Sheridan, S. C.: Spatio-temporal changes in heat waves and cold spells: an analysis of 55 US cities, Phys. Geogr., 37, 189–209, 2016.
Arblaster, J. M. and Alexander, L. V.: The impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation on maximum temperature extremes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L20702, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL053409, 2012.
Brown, S. J.: Future changes in heatwave severity, duration and frequency due to climate change for the most populous cities, Weather and Climate Extremes, 30, 100278, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2020.100278, 2020.
Bui, H. X., Timmermann, A., Lee, J. Y., Maloney, E. D., Li, Y. X., Kim, J. E., Shuman, J., Lee, S. S., and Wieder, W. R.: Summer midlatitude stationary wave patterns synchronize Northern Hemisphere wildfire occurrence, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2022GL099017, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099017, 2022.
Cahynová, M. and Huth, R.: Atmospheric circulation influence on climatic trends in Europe: an analysis of circulation type classifications from the COST733 catalogue, Int. J. Climatol., 36, 2743–2760, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4003, 2016.
Chen, L., Francis, J., and Hanna, E.: The “Warm-Arctic/Cold-continents” pattern during 1901–2010, Int. J. Climatol., 38, 5245–5254, 2018.
Claassen, J. N., Ward, P. J., Daniell, J., Koks, E. E., Tiggeloven, T., and de Ruiter, M. C.: A new method to compile global multi-hazard event sets, Sci. Rep.-UK, 13, 13808, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40400-5, 2023.
Coumou, D., Petoukhov, V., Rahmstorf, S., Petri, S., and Schellnhuber, H. J.: Quasi-resonant circulation regimes and hemispheric synchronization of extreme weather in boreal summer, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111, 12331–12336, 2014.
Davies, H. C.: Weather chains during the 2013/2014 winter and their significance for seasonal prediction, Nat. Geosci., 8, 833–837, 2015.
Della-Marta, P. M., Luterbacher, J., von Weissenfluh, H., Xoplaki, E., Brunet, M., and Wanner, H.: Summer heat waves over western Europe 1880–2003, their relationship to large-scale forcings and predictability, Clim. Dynam., 29, 251–275, 2007.
Di Capua, G., Sparrow, S., Kornhuber, K., Rousi, E., Osprey, S., Wallom, D., van den Hurk, B., and Coumou, D.: Drivers behind the summer 2010 wave train leading to Russian heatwave and Pakistan flooding, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 4, 55, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-021-00211-9, 2021.
Faranda, D., Messori, G., Jezequel, A., Vrac, M., and Yiou, P.: Atmospheric circulation compounds anthropogenic warming and impacts of climate extremes in Europe, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 120, e2214525120, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2214525120, 2023.
Gaupp, F., Hall, J., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., and Dadson, S.: Changing risks of simultaneous global breadbasket failure, Nat. Clim. Change, 10, 54–57, 2020.
Grotjahn, R., Black, R., Leung, R., Wehner, M. F., Barlow, M., Bosilovich, M., Gershunov, A., Gutowski Jr., W. J., Gyakum, J. R., Katz, R. W., Lee, Y.-Y., Lim, Y.-K., and Prabhat: North American extreme temperature events and related large scale meteorological patterns: a review of statistical methods, dynamics, modeling, and trends, Clim. Dynam., 46, 1151–1184, 2016.
Guirguis, K., Gershunov, A., Cayan, D. R., and Pierce, D. W.: Heat wave probability in the changing climate of the Southwest US, Clim. Dynam., 50, 3853–3864, 2018.
Harnik, N., Messori, G., Caballero, R., and Feldstein, S. B.: The circumglobal North American wave pattern and its relation to cold events in eastern North America, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 11015–11023, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070760, 2016.
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Hirahara, S., Horányi, A., Muñoz-Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Cornel Soci, Abdalla, S., Abellan, X., Balsamo, G., Bechtold, P., Biavati, G., Bidlot, J., Bonavita, M., De Chiara, G., Dahlgren, P., Dee, D., Diamantakis, M., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Forbes, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hogan, R. J., Hólm, E., Janisková, M., Keeley, S., Laloyaux, P., Lopez,P., Lupu, C., Radnoti, G., de Rosnay, P., Rozum, I., Vamborg, F., Villaume,S., and Thépaut, J.-N.: The ERA5 global reanalysis, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 146, 1999–2049, 2020.
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Biavati, G., Horányi, A., Muñoz Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Rozum, I., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Dee, D., and Thépaut, J.-N.: ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS) [data set], https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47, 2023.
Holmberg, E., Messori, G., Caballero, R., and Faranda, D.: The link between European warm-temperature extremes and atmospheric persistence, Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 737–765, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-737-2023, 2023.
Kornhuber, K. and Messori, G.: Recent increase in a recurrent pan-Atlantic wave pattern driving concurrent wintertime extremes, B. Am. Meteor. Soc., 104, E1694–E1708, 2023.
Kornhuber, K., Osprey, S., Coumou, D., Petri, S., Petoukhov, V., Rahmstorf, S., and Gray, L.: Extreme weather events in early summer 2018 connected by a recurrent hemispheric wave-7 pattern, Environ. Res. Lett., 14, 054002, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab13bf, 2019.
Kornhuber, K., Coumou, D., Vogel, E., Lesk, C., Donges, J. F., Lehmann, J., and Horton, R. M.: Amplified Rossby waves enhance risk of concurrent heatwaves in major breadbasket regions, Nat. Clim. Change, 10, 48–53, 2020.
La Sorte, F. A., Johnston, A., and Ault, T. R.: Global trends in the frequency and duration of temperature extremes, Clim. Change, 166, 1, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03094-0, 2021.
Lau, W. K. and Kim, K. M.: The 2010 Pakistan flood and Russian heat wave: Teleconnection of hydrometeorological extremes, J. Hydrometeorol., 13, 392–403, 2012.
Leeding, R., Riboldi, J., and Messori, G.: On Pan-Atlantic cold, wet and windy compound extremes, Weather and Climate Extremes, 39, 100524, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2022.100524, 2023.
Lhotka, O. and Kyselý, J.: Characterizing joint effects of spatial extent, temperature magnitude and duration of heat waves and cold spells over Central Europe, Int. J. Climatol., 35, 1232–1244, 2015.
Lin, C., Kjellström, E., Wilcke, R. A. I., and Chen, D.: Present and future European heat wave magnitudes: climatologies, trends, and their associated uncertainties in GCM-RCM model chains, Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 1197–1214, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1197-2022, 2022.
Loikith, P. C. and Broccoli, A. J.: The influence of recurrent modes of climate variability on the occurrence of winter and summer extreme temperatures over North America, J. Climate, 27, 1600–1618, 2014.
Lyon, B., Barnston, A. G., Coffel, E., and Horton, R. M.: Projected increase in the spatial extent of contiguous US summer heat waves and associated attributes, Environ. Res. Lett., 14, 114029, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab4b41, 2019.
Messori, G. and Faranda, D.: On the systematic occurrence of compound cold spells in North America and wet or windy extremes in Europe, Geophys. Res. Lett., 50, e2022GL101008, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101008, 2023.
Messori, G., Caballero, R., and Gaetani, M.: On cold spells in North America and storminess in western Europe, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 6620–6628, 2016.
Peings, Y., Cattiaux, J., and Douville, H.: Evaluation and response of winter cold spells over Western Europe in CMIP5 models, Clim. Dynam., 41, 3025–3037, 2013.
Riboldi, J., Leeding, R., Segalini, A., and Messori, G.: Multiple Large-Scale Dynamical Pathways for Pan–Atlantic Compound Cold and Windy Extremes. Geophys. Res. Lett., 50, e2022GL102528, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL102528, 2023.
Rogers, C. D., Kornhuber, K., Perkins-Kirkpatrick, S. E., Loikith, P. C., and Singh, D.: Sixfold increase in historical northern hemisphere concurrent large heatwaves driven by warming and changing atmospheric circulations, J. Climate, 35, 1063–1078, 2022.
Röthlisberger, M., Frossard, L., Bosart, L. F., Keyser, D., and Martius, O.: Recurrent synoptic-scale Rossby wave patterns and their effect on the persistence of cold and hot spells, J. Climate, 32, 3207–3226, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0664.1, 2019.
Screen, J. A. and Simmonds, I.: Amplified mid-latitude planetary waves favour particular regional weather extremes, Nat. Clim. Change, 4, 704–709, 2014.
Segalini, A. and Messori, G.: Global extreme events tool, Zenodo [code, data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12746817, 2024.
Sung, M. K., Son, S. W., Yoo, C., Hwang, J., and An, S. I.: Seesawing of winter temperature extremes between East Asia and North America, J. Climate, 34, 4423-4434, 2021.
Tigchelaar, M., Battisti, D. S., Naylor, R. L., and Ray, D. K.: Future warming increases probability of globally synchronized maize production shocks, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 6644–6649, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718031115, 2018.
Tilloy, A., Malamud, B. D., and Joly-Laugel, A.: A methodology for the spatiotemporal identification of compound hazards: wind and precipitation extremes in Great Britain (1979–2019), Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 993–1020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-993-2022, 2022.
Vautard, R., Cattiaux, J., Happé, T., Singh, J., Bonnet, R., Cassou, C., Coumou, D., D’Andrea, F., Faranda, D., Fischer, E., Ribes, A., Sippel, S., and Yiou, P.: Heat extremes in Western Europe increasing faster than simulated due to atmospheric circulation trends, Nat. Commun., 14, 6803, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42143-3, 2023.
Vogel, M. M., Zscheischler, J., Wartenburger, R., Dee, D., and Seneviratne, S. I.: Concurrent 2018 hot extremes across Northern Hemisphere due to human-induced climate change, Earth's Future, 7, 692–703, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EF001189, 2019.
White, R. H., Kornhuber, K., Martius, O., and Wirth, V.: From atmospheric waves to heatwaves: A waveguide perspective for understanding and predicting concurrent, persistent, and extreme extratropical weather, B. Am. Meteor. Soc., 103, E923–E935, 2022.
Xu, Z., FitzGerald, G., Guo, Y., Jalaludin, B., and Tong, S.: Impact of heatwave on mortality under different heatwave definitions: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Environ. Int., 89, 193–203, 2016.
Ye, K. and Messori, G.: Two leading modes of wintertime atmospheric circulation drive the recent warm Arctic–cold Eurasia temperature pattern, J. Climate, 33, 5565–5587, 2020.
Zscheischler, J., Martius, O., Westra, S., Bevacqua, E., Raymond, C., Horton, R. M., van den Hurk, B., AghaKouchak, A., Jézéquel, A., Mahecha, M. D., Maraun, D., Ramos, A. M., Ridder, N. N., Thiery, W., and Vignotto, E.: A typology of compound weather and climate events, Nat. Rev. Earth Environ., 1, 333–347, 2020.
Editorial statement
Concurrent temperature extremes are becoming common but there is no climatology of such extremes in the literature. This study provides a climatology for concurrent heatwaves and cold spells and a programming toolbox to study such phenomena. This dataset and toolbox will be of interest to a wide readership, expecially those interested in climate and climate change science.
Concurrent temperature extremes are becoming common but there is no climatology of such extremes...
Short summary
Simultaneous heatwaves or cold spells in remote geographical regions have potentially far-reaching impacts on society and the environment. Despite this, we have little knowledge of when and where these extreme events have occurred in the past decades. In this paper, we present a summary of past simultaneous heatwaves or cold spells and provide a computer program to enable other researchers to study them.
Simultaneous heatwaves or cold spells in remote geographical regions have potentially...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint