The record‐breaking heat wave of June 2019 in Central Europe

Abstract

Abstract After being hit by several devastating heat waves in recent years, Europe experienced an exceptionally hot June in 2019 again. This June is the hottest one on record over Central Europe both in a monthly‐mean sense and in terms of the number of extremely hot days. The above‐normal hot condition is caused by an anomalous long‐lasting anticyclone in the upper troposphere, which advects warm air from the Sahel and Mediterranean region and enhances incoming solar radiation and surface turbulent fluxes. The anomalous anticyclone results from an unusually‐intensified British‐Baikal Corridor (BBC) pattern and a synoptic Rossby wave breaking (RWB) event over Europe. Three sub‐monthly heat waves are observed in the month. The first two are associated with the BBC pattern, and the third is related to the combination of the previous BBC pattern activity and the RWB event.

Keywords

• heat wave
• teleconnection
• wave breaking