Seasonal Temperature Extremes in the North Eurasian Regions Depending on ENSO Phase Transitions

Abstract

Seasonal anomalies of surface air temperature were analyzed for the North Eurasian regions in mid-latitudes using long-term data from the end of the 19th century with an assessment of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) effects. In particular, temperature anomalies in the spring–summer months for the European (ER) and Asian (AR) Russian regions for different phase transitions of the ENSO phenomena were estimated using the Niño3, Niño3.4 and Niño4 indices. The largest frequency of the extremely high-temperature and drought conditions in spring–summer months in ER was detected for years starting in the El Niño phase with the transition to the La Niña phase at the end of the year. Such conditions were realized in ER in summer 2010 (“Russian heatwave”). The corresponding largest frequency of high temperature in AR was obtained for conditions with the continuation of the El Niño phase during the whole year. Such conditions in AR were noted, in particular, in the summer of 2015, with an extremely high temperature and extremely low precipitation in the Lake Baikal basin.

Keywords

• ENSO
• temperature extremes
• North Eurasia