Duration, rarity, affected area, and weather types associated with extreme precipitation in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) region, Central Europe

Abstract

Extreme precipitation events ( EPEs ) in the Ore Mountains ( OM ) were studied based on daily precipitation observations from 1960 to 2013. The OM are a low mountain range situated in the Czech‐German border area. The Weather Extremity Index ( WEI ) resulting from an event‐adjusted evaluation technique was used to select 54 EPEs of 1‐10 days duration. The WEI combines rarity, spatial extent, and duration of an event in one index and provides quantitative information about its extremity. Based on their duration, the 54 EPEs were classified into short (1‐2 days) and long events (3‐10 days), showing different characteristics and trend behaviour. The EPEs (including the three strongest events) occurred most frequently in late spring and summer. The three strongest EPEs as well as EPEs , which occurred during the winter half‐year ( WHY EPEs ), affected comparatively larger areas; with WHY EPEs being generally longer. EPE frequency does not show any significant trend during the study period; it fluctuated mostly similar to summer half‐year EPEs . The most frequent weather type (according to two versions of the German Grosswetterlagen concept) related to EPEs was Trough over Central Europe ( TrM ). Nevertheless, many differences were noticed between the original (manual) catalogue and its automated version ( SynopVis ‐Grosswetterlagen); the later able to better reflect the weather types associated with 54 EPEs .

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