Azores High and Hawaiian High: correlations, trends and shifts (1948–2018)

The paper focuses on investigation of ‘twin’ subtropical oceanic highs of the Northern Hemisphere, i.e. the Azores High (AH) and the Hawaiian High (HH) in January and July based on gridded 2.5° × 2.5° data of Reanalysis Project of the National Center for Atmospheric Research for the period 1948–2018. The aimis to answer three questions: (1) Are there any connections between AH and HH (both within and between the systems)? (2) What is the long-termvariability and trends of the basic characteristics of AH and HH? (3) Do the AH and HH move, and if so, in what directions? The most important results are as follows: (1) the longterm trend of sea level air pressure in the AH centre in January is positive, statistically significant with the increase of 0.63 hPa/ 10 years, (2) pressure in both centres significantly relates with the latitude of each system; variables characterising the HH in January explain 11% of variation of the variables of the AH in July, (3) the NE-SW/SW-NE index proves the shifting of the AH in January from the south-west to the north-east from the 1990s of the twentieth century and again to the south-west in the twentyfirst century, (4) the HH in January and July moved generally from the north-east to the south-west until the end of the twentieth century and shifted again to north-east during the twenty-first century, (5) the AH in July was characterised by complicated displacement system with the prevalence of the shifting from the north-east to the south-west with the exception for the period 1980–1990. In winter, the AH moves towards the land area of Europe in the second half of the twentieth century, while the HH moves towards the open Pacific. The statistically significant increase of pressure in the centre of the AH in January is closely related to the shifting of the system to the north-east. The positive pressure trend in the centre of theAH in January combined with the zero trend in July is the cause of diminishing difference between summer and winter air pressure value of the high. Due to increased sea surface temperature of the Atlantic, the AH does not lose its strength in winter as it used to a few decades ago

Variability of the Icelandic Low and the Azores High in January and Their Influence on Climatic Conditions in Poland

The study analysed long-term changes and the variability of the Icelandic Low and the Azores High in January and their influence on thermal, precipitation and nival conditions in Poland in the period 1901–2000. There were no statistically significant (0.05) trends of analysed centres of action in January in the 20th century. However, in the second half of the century the center of the Icelandic Low in January moved northwards and the sea-level pressure in the center of the Azores High increased significantly. The latter change was the reason for the significant increasing difference between the Azores High and the Icelandic Low. This change caused the intensification of western advection over Europe. Changes in sea-level pressure in the Icelandic Low and the longitude of the Azores High in January explain about 40% of temperature and snow cover variability in Poland. The variability of some features of the centres of action describes the chan

Seasonal stability of snow cover in Poland in relation to the atmospheric circulation

The seasonal stability of snow cover (ISS) was defined as a percentage ratio of the real and the potential snow cover duration in a winter season. Main results of the study are as follows: (1) alternately occurring periods of high and low values of the index of snow cover stability did not appeared simultaneously in mountainous and nonmountainous areas; (2) in the majority of Poland area both zonal and meridional components of the atmospheric circulation influence the ISS; however, in south the meridional air flow reveals the stronger impact, mostly due to the intensification of the southern advection by the foehn effect; and (3) changes of two or three indices describing atmospheric circulation explain up to 50 % of the ISS in Poland. The diminishing stability of snow cover in Poland corresponds with an increasing intensity of the advection from the western sector in winter in the second half of the twentieth century in Europe

Tree-ring widths and snow cover depth in High Tauern

The aim of the study is to examine the correlation of Norway spruce tree-ring widths and the snow cover depth in the High Tauern mountains. The average standardized tree-ring widths indices for Nowary spruce posted by Bednarz and Niedzwiedz (2006) were taken into account. Increment cores were collected from 39 Norway spruces growing in the High Tauern near the upper limit of the forest at altitude of 1700-1800 m, 3 km from the meteorological station at Sonnblick. Moreover, the maximum of snow cover depth in Sonnblick (3105 m a.s.l.) for each winter season in the period from 1938/39 to 1994/95 (57 winter seasons) was taken into account. The main results of the research are as follows: (1) tree-ring widths in a given year does not reveal statistically significant dependency on the maximum snow cover depth observed in the winter season, which ended this year; (2) however, the tested relationship is statistically significant in the case of correlating of the tree-ring widths in a given year with a maximum snow cover depth in a season of previous year. The correlation coefficient for the entire period of the study is not very high (r=0.27) but shows a statistical significance at the 0.05 level; (3) the described relationship is not stable over time. 30-year moving correlations showed no significant dependencies till 1942 and after 1982 (probably due to the so-called divergence phenomenon). However, during the period of 1943-1981 the values of correlation coefficient for moving 30-year periods are statistically significant and range from 0.37 to 0.45; (4) the correlation coefficient between real and calibrated (on the base of the regression equation) values of maximum snow cover depth is statistically significant for calibration period and not significant for verification one; (5) due to a quite short period of statistically significant correlations and not very strict dependencies, the reconstruction of snow cover on Sonnblick for the period before regular measurements seems to be not reasonable

The change and variability of snow cover in Kraków in a 100-year observation series

This article presents the results of research on the changes and variability of snow cover in Kraków in the 100-year period 1921/22-2020/21 and in its two sub-periods covering the years of the slow and rapid territorial, urban and industrial development of Kraków (respectively, 1921/22-1960/61 and 1961/62-2020/21). The long-term variability of the number of days with snow cover, the maximum depth of the snow layer, the dates of the beginning and end of snow cover duration in the winter season, the potential snow cover duration and the index of snow cover stability were analysed. The directions of changes in the snow cover in the last 100 winter seasons in Kraków correspond to the global changes in air temperature presented in the latest IPCC reports: until the end of the 1950s there were no significant trends, or only small trends were observed, whereas from the beginning of the 1960s faster changes in the snow cover duration and maximum seasonal snow depth have been visible. In the last 60 years (1961/62-2020/21), the impact of global changes in Kraków has been joined by the impact of territorial, demographic and industrial development of the city, causing significant negative trends in snow cover with relative values of less than −9% ∙ 10 $years^{−1}$, both in the case of snow cover duration and its maximum depth in the winter season; these changes are statistically significant. Throughout the whole 100-year period (1921/22-2020/21) and in its second part (1961/62–2020/21), a decrease in snow cover stability has also been observed

Long-term variability of snow cover in Cracow and suburban areas

Analiza pokrywy śnieżnej w Krakowie w okresie 1921/22-1996/97 wykazała istnienie ujemnego trendu liczby dni z pokrywą śnieŻllą i brak wyrażnych tendencji w przypadku maksymalnych grubości i sum grubości pokrywy śnieżnej w sezonach zimowych. Stwierdzono wyraŻlly spadek wartości liczbowych charakterystyk pokrywy śnieżnej w Krakowie od początku lat sześćdziesiątych. Badano szeregi czasowe pokrywy śnieżnej dla kilku stacji zamiejskich pracujących w tym okresie. Dla pięciu, z sześciu wziętych pod uwagę, stacji spadek wartości maksymalnych grubości pokrywy śnieżnej okazał się wolniejszy niż obserwowanych w centrum Krakowa.An analysis of snow cover in Cracow during the period 1921/22-1996/97 indicated a negative time trend for number of days with snow cover and lack of clear tendencies in maximum depth and sum of daily snow cover depths during winter seasons. A considerable decrease in all snow cover characteristics in Cracow from the beginning of the '60s was found. The snow cover time-series for several suburban stations recorded during this period· were analysed. For five, among six stations under considerations, a decrease in maximum snow cover appeared to be slower than that observed in the Cracow city centre

Review of Polish contribution to snow cover research (1880–2017)

The purpose of this article is to present the development of multifaceted research on snow cover conducted by Polish researchers in various parts of the world since the end of the 19th century up to the modern times. The paper describes Polish studies on physical and chemical properties of snow cover, its long-term changes, relationships between snow cover and climate, impact of snow cover on environmental conditions and human activity. This work is also an attempt to show the contribution of Polish snow-related research to the international achievements in this fields

Variability of selected extreme meteorological events in Poland

The principal aim of this paper is to analyze the trends of the multi-annual course of the selected characteristics of extreme precipitation, snow cover and atmospheric thunderstorms in the second half of the twentieth century in Poland. The results of these investigations show that in Poland it is only possible to determine a weak decreasing trend of extreme precipitation events in the S and especially in the SW part of the country. In northern Poland, opposite, although similarly weak, trends have also been observed. It is assumed that the most essential features of long-term changeability of extreme precipitation include a higher than average number of days with extremely high precipitation during the 1960s and 1970s, a distinctly lower frequency of such days during the 1950s, 1980s and in the fi rst half of the 1990s. In Poland it is possible to distinguish four broad homogenous areas in terms of the long-term changes in the occurrence of extreme precipitation events. There is considerable regional differentiation when it comes to the occurrence of thunderstorms in Poland, and their long-term changeability does not show any clear trends. Only three stations have determined a weak increase in the number of thunderstorms during the last 120 years. In some stations, an increase in the number of days with thunderstorms during the winter seasons was also observed. There were no signifi cant trends in extreme snow cover in Poland. The periods that contained large and small areas of extreme snow cover thickness occurred alternately. Since the winter season 1987/88, the area of extremely thin snow cover has remained at a relatively high level

The causes for choice-supportive memory distortions in the memory of past decisions

Zniekształcenia pamięciowe wspierające własny wybór to potwierdzony w szeregu badań efekt towarzyszący pamięci własnych decyzji. W przypominaniu wyboru między dwoma alternatywami osoby przypisują cechy pozytywne wybranej przez siebie opcji, a cechy negatywne opcji odrzuconej. Wyjaśnienia przyczyn występowania zniekształceń pamięciowych wspierających własny wybór są uwzględnione w dwóch teoriach. Pierwszą z nich jest spowodowane wyborem wystąpienie dysonansu poznawczego i motywacji do jego redukcji. Drugą jest występowanie stronniczego przetwarzania przeddecyzyjnego, które skutkuje selektywnym kodowaniem informacji. W niniejszej pracy zaprezentowano badania mające na celu ustalenie, która z wymienionych teorii pozwala wyjaśnić powstawanie zniekształceń pamięciowych wspierających własny wybór. Dokonano tego porównując zniekształcenia pamięciowe w trzech grupach podejmujących decyzję dla siebie, dla osoby znajomej oraz dla osoby obcej. Zakładano wystąpienie zniekształceń pamięciowych we wszystkich grupach oraz największe zniekształcenia w przypadku osób podejmujących decyzję dla siebie, następnie podejmujących decyzję dla osoby znajomej, następnie dla osoby obcej, zgodnie z teorią redukcji dysonansu poznawczego. Stwierdzono wystąpienie zniekształceń pamięciowych w jednym z dwóch dokonywanych wyborów: wyborze współlokatora. Wyniki eksperymentu wskazują na wystąpienie mechanizmu stronniczego przetwarzania informacji jako przyczyny powstawania zniekształceń pamięciowych wspierających własny wybór. W dyskusji wskazano możliwe przyczyny i kierunki dalszych badań.When recalling their past decisions people tend to attribute positive features to the chosen option and negative features to the rejected option, which is called choice-supportive memory distortion. It is explained by the theories of cognitive dissonance and selective encoding due to biased predecision processing of information. The present study attempts to establish which of the two theories can explain this effect by comparing three conditions: making a choice for oneself, making a choice for an acquaintance and making a choice for a stranger. It was assumed that choice-supportive memory distortion would occur and the largest effect would be found in a group of people making decisions for themselves. This would indicate that the mechanism of cognitive dissonance is responsible for the memory distortions. The assumptions weren’t confirmed and the results suggest that the theory of biased processing is the cause for the phenomenon. Reasons and directions for future research are discussed