Climatology of the extreme heavy precipitation events in Slovakia in the 1951–2020 period

Abstract

In this study, we investigate extreme heavy precipitation events in the Slovak Republic in the period 1951–2020 in terms of their spatial and temporal distribution with goal to create dynamic-climatological analysis of those patterns of the atmospheric circulation that can eventually lead to the occurrence of the extreme multi-day precipitation events. Heavy precipitation is defined as maximum precipitation total over five consecutive days (Rx5D) where a non-zero daily precipitation total must be recorded every day of selected 5-day period. Spatial and temporal distribution of multiday precipitation totals is affected by many factors, mainly by the processes taking place in the troposphere eventually represented by the synoptic scale atmospheric circulation and by the orographic diversity of the area, which together significantly affects distribution of precipitation in the selected area. Our study is therefore constructed as an analysis of relationships between localized tropospheric circulation defined by the Czechoslovak catalogue of the typified synoptic situations (Brádka, 1968), the predominant wind patterns and the spatiotemporal distribution of Rx5D.