the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 11 Nov 2024
Exploring the interplay between observed warming, atmospheric circulation, and soil-atmosphere feedbacks on heatwaves in a temperate mountain region
Abstract. This study investigates the exceptional heatwaves of 2022 in the Pyrenees, focusing on their physical drivers and environmental influences. The June heatwave was advective in nature, with stronger mountain-induced circulations resulting in heterogeneous temperature anomalies, while the July event had subsiding and weaker atmospheric flow, leading to more uniform temperatures. The interplay of the synoptic circulation with the complex topography, or the pre-existing soil moisture deficits, played an important role in driving the spatial variability of temperature anomalies in the heatwaves and contributed significantly to their regional amplification. In addition, human-induced climate change has exacerbated these extreme weather phenomena, with more intense heatwaves in the recent period (1986–2021) compared with the past (1950–1985). This research contributes to a more realistic assessment of the impact of climate change on heatwaves in mountain regions.
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RC1: 'Comment on nhess-2024-192', Anonymous Referee #1, 02 Dec 2024
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Review of “Exploring the interplay between observed warming, atmospheric circulation, and soil-atmosphere feedbacks on heatwaves in a temperate mountain region” by Lemus-Canovas et al.
This study investigates the physical drivers of two heatwaves that occurred in a temperate mountain region in 2022. The authors systematically quantified the contributions of adiabatic, diabatic, and advective processes to temperature trends. Their analysis revealed that the June heatwave was primarily driven by advection, while the July heatwave was largely caused by subsidence. By employing flow analogues, the study further demonstrated that heatwaves during 1986–2021 were more intense compared to those during 1950–1985. Additionally, the authors highlighted how interactions between synoptic circulation, topography, and soil moisture contribute to the spatial variability of temperature. This research provides valuable insights into the mechanisms behind heatwaves and underscores the role of land-atmosphere interactions in amplifying such events. While the manuscript is generally well-written, a few points require further clarification.
Major comments
- Lines 104-106. What is the magnitude of the diabatic term compared to other terms in Equation (1)?
- Lines 127-158. Could you make a schematic of how the flow analogue experiments are conducted, clearly showing all the steps? For example, how do you reconstruct the expected mean Tx?
- Figure 1. The temperature is lower than 14 °C, which is quite low compared to heatwaves in general, although the temperatures in the identified periods are heatwaves statistically. Could you show that such a temperature is really a concern?
- Lines 256-263. The temperature difference between the two periods from Figure 5b is at least half of that from Figure 5a. You cannot say that the temperature difference between the analogs of the two climate periods is mainly linked to a long-term trend, unless the difference from Figure 5b is much smaller than that from Figure 5a.
- Lines 271-274. Could you provide more explanations on the spatial structure of synoptic situations? Why RMSD could clearly represent the spatial structure?
Minor comments
Line 58. Tx is maximum temperature but is not explicitly defined.
Lines 110-120. The same should be used everywhere.
Line 263. Inconsistent font size
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-192-RC1
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