We know that with global warming the temperatures each year are continuously increasing. So much so that summer heat waves have marked new temperature highs in many regions of the world. One of the most remembered heat waves is the June 2019 heat wave Here in Spain, where temperatures were highest, setting a record. Scientists have taken a closer look at this event to better understand it.
For this reason, we are going to dedicate this article to telling you what the research is about the June 2019 heat wave.
Characterization of air masses
In meteorology, for the thermal characterization of air masses, the temperature parameter is usually used at an altitude of 1500 m, which corresponds to a pressure level of 850 hPa. This is done because this layer is generally found in the free atmosphere outside the confinement layer of the atmosphere and is therefore little affected by the contact of the air with the ground, although in our territory plateaus and plateaus, the heat of the ground propagates at that level from noon, so we generally use a temperature of 12 UTC 850 hP For reference, the surface layer of the air (or night cooling) at the time of daytime heating has not yet fully reached the 1500 meter level (or night cooling).
In addition, 12 UTC coincides with the launch of one of the two aerial probes carried out worldwide by the National Weather Service and other related organizations, which normally operate more than a thousand times each for hours. These atmospheric radiosondes have been in use for decades and its data is used for atmospheric analysis, prediction and reanalysis, among other activities. If you'd like to learn more about how this research on global warming affects heat waves, you can find more information about the global warming and its relationship to heat waves.
June 2019 heat wave
With these previous considerations, from the 850 hPa temperature data it is possible to describe the air mass over the peninsula (particularly affecting the central, north and northeast regions) and western continental Europe in the last days of June 2019. In these regions, the African air mass that it flies over them is the warmest on record in June in at least the last 40 years. Even in smaller parts of the designated area, it was the warmest air mass for any month of the year in the last four decades. As shown in the first two images, the northern half of the peninsula had an anomalous temperature of more than +10ºC on June 28, 2019, 850 hPa, in stark contrast to the southwest, where the air mass was normal and even a bit cold in the Gulf of Cadiz.
The air mass in the peninsular northeast is very warm, while in the Canary Islands the air mass is fresh or cold, with an average anomaly of -6 ºC. This phenomenon can also be observed in other places, such as in heat waves at different times of the year.
The large thermal difference between the Atlantic air mass and the air mass that flew over western continental Europe in the last week of June 2019 is due to the presence of a recently published “planetary wave resonance” type stationary mode. It is believed to be the mechanism responsible for extreme summer weather events. If you want to know more about heat waves in general, you can visit the article on how heat waves occur.
Where did it affect the most?
June 2019 was the hottest June on record on Earth, according to data released Tuesday. According to Copernicus, the European climate change service, the thermometer in June this year was 0,1 degrees Celsius above the record set in June 2016. In Europe, the average temperature in June was 2 degrees Celsius above normal, and it was observed that the effects of heat in various regions.
The last heat wave that affected the center, north and northeast of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands between June 26 and 30 was the most suffocating June in the last 40 years. The study's findings explain the unusual intensity of this event and reveal that heat waves have become more frequent and intense in these regions recently affected by extreme heat. If you'd like to learn more about the impact of these heat waves, you can visit our article on the impacts of heat waves.
Comparing temperature data from the past 27th, 28th and 29th of June with the same day in June between 1979 and 2018, it was observed that some of the values recorded during last month's high temperature were the highest in the 14 capital cities in the series. If you are interested in the temperature records in history in Spain, this can be a good reference.
En Barcelona, Zaragoza, Bilbao, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Logroño, Huesca and Burgos, the temperatures reached in the three key days of the heat wave were the highest in the series. The situation in Madrid and the points of the Sierra de Madrid and Torrejón de Ardos, has never been as hot as that month of June, also highlights the high value of Vitoria, Lleida, Girona, Soria, Teruel and Guadalajara.
In the first two decades of this century, the June warm air mass, which causes abnormally high temperatures in regions affected by the heat wave, crossed almost 10 times more than in the last two years of the previous century, more than increasing from a frequency of 3,7 to 3,7 years every 30,7 years. If you want to know more about the intense weather phenomena, you can refer to other articles.
The frequency of extremely warm air masses producing "meteorological events" and heat waves in June has increased from 100 years in the second 20 years of the 10th century to 1,3 years in the first two years of this century. In the first two decades of this century, episodes of high temperature or extreme heat were ten times more frequent than in the second two decades of the XNUMXth century, and the air mass over the country in summer was XNUMX degrees higher than the of the last decade, except Canary Islands, with an increase of 1,07 degrees. According to the Aemet, all these conclusions are consistent with the projections in climate change scenarios made over several decades.
