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Weather regimes and sea surge variations over the Gulf of Lions (French Mediterranean coast) during the 20th century
Author(s) -
Ullmann A.,
Moron V.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.1527
Subject(s) - climatology , surge , oceanography , ridge , tide gauge , period (music) , mediterranean sea , sea level , environmental science , atlantic multidecadal oscillation , north atlantic oscillation , morning , mediterranean climate , geology , geography , meteorology , paleontology , physics , archaeology , acoustics , medicine
Abstract Hourly sea surge variations observed at three tide‐gauge stations (Grau‐de‐la‐Dent(GD) located in the Rhône Delta, Sète(SE), and Port‐Vendres(PV)) around the Gulf of Lions are strongly correlated during the wintertime period (October to March) of 1986‐1995. Relationships between the early morning (6 a.m. UTC) sea surge observed at Grau‐de‐la‐Dent station and five weather regimes—Zonal (ZO), East‐Atlantic (EA), Greenland Above (GA), Blocking (BL), and Atlantic Ridge (AR)—over the northeast Atlantic and Europe (40°W–40°E, 30 –70°N) are analysed during the wintertime period of 1905‐2002. More than 75% of sea surges ≥ 40 cm occur during both of the weather regimes associated with a negative North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) phase (41.2 and 34% during BL and GA weather regimes, respectively), ahead of low pressure travelling usually southeastward, on a stormtrack shifted south of 55°N. The relationships between monthly/seasonal frequency of weather regime and 75th percentile of sea surge at GD tend to strengthen during the 20th century: for example, correlation between seasonal frequencies of GA and 75th percentile of sea surge increases from 0.07 (not significant) in 1905–40 to 0.83 (signifiicant at the one‐sided 99% level) in 1974–2002. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society