Jan Degirmendžić

Abstract This paper contains an analysis of the impact the positions of Mediterranean cyclones moving through Central and Eastern Europe (MEC – Mediterranean European Cyclones) are able to exert on the precipitation fields in Poland over the period 1958-2008. A distinction was fi rst drawn between six types of route of MECs, as well as segments of those routes, with the positions of lows associated with maximum precipitation in Poland at the time being indicated (Figs. 2-3). Daily precipitation totals associated with Mediterranean lows (i.e. MCP – Mediterranean Cyclonal Precipitation) were compared with the average precipitation abundance (i.e. the average amount of rain per rainy day) noted at meteorological stations. The quotient of these totals represents an indicator of MCP efficiency (Ie). In the Polish case, this ratio is found to have assumed values in the range between 110 and more than 300% (Fig. 5). MCP precipitation abundance greater than the average abundance for all precipitation (Ie >100%) was found to be associated with Mediterranean cyclones moving over the territory of Poland along a central route (C), or else passing to the east of the country (E route) or to the south of its borders (S route). The effective MCP associated with the central route (C) is seen to spread across the greater part of the country, excluding south-eastern regions (Fig. 7). In turn, precipitation associated with the E route extends over large areas other than in the north-west, while the precipitation associated with the S track is present close to the southern and south-eastern borders. The highest average MCP in western Poland is related to cyclones moving along the western branch of the central route (CW), while peak values for the centre and north of the country are associated with the CE route. Elsewhere in Poland, it is the easternroute (E) systems that induce maximum MCP. In some places close to the south-eastern borders, maximum MCP is caused by cyclones travelling along the southern track (S) (Fig. 6). It follows that the highest precipitation totals are recorded to the left-hand (western and northern) sides of the tracks followed, in areas where the northern and eastern components of the cyclonic circulation are dominant.

Keywords: niże śródziemnomorskie, szlaki niżów, opady, Polska

Jan Degirmendžić, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geographical Sciences University of Łódź Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź: Poland
Krzysztof Kożuchowski [kkozuchowski1@wp.pl], Department of Environment Dynamics and Bioclimatology, University of Łódź, Lipowa 81, 90-568 Łódź, Poland

Citation

APA: Degirmendžić, J., & Kożuchowski, K. (2015). Szlaki niżów śródziemnomorskich nad Europą Środkowo-Wschodnią a opady w Polsce*. Przegląd Geograficzny, 87(3), 477-496. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2015.3.4
MLA: Degirmendžić, Jan, and Kożuchowski, Krzysztof. "Szlaki niżów śródziemnomorskich nad Europą Środkowo-Wschodnią a opady w Polsce*". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 87, no. 3, 2015, pp. 477-496. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2015.3.4
Chicago: Degirmendžić, Jan, and Kożuchowski, Krzysztof. "Szlaki niżów śródziemnomorskich nad Europą Środkowo-Wschodnią a opady w Polsce*". Przegląd Geograficzny 87, no. 3 (2015): 477-496. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2015.3.4
Harvard: Degirmendžić, J., & Kożuchowski, K. 2015. "Szlaki niżów śródziemnomorskich nad Europą Środkowo-Wschodnią a opady w Polsce*". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 87, no. 3, pp. 477-496. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2015.3.4