Source of hot European summers determined

22 March 2007Science Daily / UPI

Robert Vautard of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute in Palaiseau, France, and colleagues analyzed meteorological records of the past 58 years and determine dry conditions around the northern Mediterranean create a mass of anomalously warm, dry air that spreads northward during early summer.

The researchers detected the pattern while searching for previously undiscovered weather scenarios that explain heat waves, such as the one experienced by Europe in the summer of 2003.

Because dry soil inhibits convective cloud formation, the authors suggest soil water contents in Europe's Mediterranean regions play a critical role in the maintenance of climate across Europe. They also found winter and early spring rainfall frequency in the Mediterranean regions correlates with summer temperature in continental Europe.

The study appears in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.