Climate extremes have emerged as a crucial driver of changes in terrestrial ecosystems. The Tibetan Plateau, facing a rapid climate change, tends to favor climate extremes. But we lack a clear understanding of the imp...Climate extremes have emerged as a crucial driver of changes in terrestrial ecosystems. The Tibetan Plateau, facing a rapid climate change, tends to favor climate extremes. But we lack a clear understanding of the impacts of such extremes on alpine grasslands. Here we show that extreme events(drought,extreme wet, extreme cold and extreme hot) occurred at a frequency of 0.67–4 months decade^(-1) during2001–2015, with extreme precipitation predominantly occurring in June-to-August and extreme temperatures in May. Drought and extreme wet cause opposite and asymmetric effects on grassland growth,with drought-induced reductions greater than increases due to extreme wet. Grassland responses to extreme temperatures, which predominantly occur in May, show a dipole-like spatial pattern, with extreme hot(cold) events enhanced(reduced) growth in the eastern plateau but slightly reduced(enhanced) growth in the western plateau. These opposite responses to extreme temperatures over the eastern plateau are explained by the possibility that the occurrence of extreme cold slows the preseason temperature accumulation, delaying the triggering of spring phenology, while extreme hot hastens the accumulation. In the western plateau, in contrast, positive responses to extreme cold are induced by accompanying high precipitation. Furthermore, high extremeness of climate events generally led to a much lower extremeness in growth response, implying that the Tibetan grasslands have a relatively high resistance to climate extremes. The ecosystem models tested could not accurately simulate grassland responses to drought and extreme temperatures, and require re-parameterization before trust can be placed in their output for this region.展开更多
The distinct precursory signals of countrywide extensive and persistent extreme cold events (CECs) were investigated and contrasted with those of countrywide cold wave events (CCWs). It is shown that most CECs were ac...The distinct precursory signals of countrywide extensive and persistent extreme cold events (CECs) were investigated and contrasted with those of countrywide cold wave events (CCWs). It is shown that most CECs were accompanied by a CCW in the initial stages. From the comparison between the CECs and the CCWs that were independent of any CEC, it is found that a south- west-northeast-oriented tilted ridge at 500 hPa was present around the Europe-Barents Sea regions approximately 10 days prior to the start of the CEC. Consistent with this feature, a high sea level pressure and strong cold air accumulation occurred over a broad extent of northern Eurasia one week prior to the start of the CEC. The tilted ridge and the strong cold air accumulation were the precursory signals that were absent for the CCW, and they provide important clues for the early prediction of whether a CCW event might evolve into a CEC.展开更多
Three extreme cold events invaded China during the early winter period between December 2020 to mid-January 2021 and caused drastic temperature drops,setting new low-temperature records at many stations during 6−8 Jan...Three extreme cold events invaded China during the early winter period between December 2020 to mid-January 2021 and caused drastic temperature drops,setting new low-temperature records at many stations during 6−8 January 2021.These cold events occurred under background conditions of low Arctic sea ice extent and a La Niña event.This is somewhat expected since the coupled effect of large Arctic sea ice loss in autumn and sea surface temperature cooling in the tropical Pacific usually favors cold event occurrences in Eurasia.Further diagnosis reveals that the first cold event is related to the southward movement of the polar vortex and the second one is related to a continent-wide ridge,while both the southward polar vortex and the Asian blocking are crucial for the third event.Here,we evaluate the forecast skill for these three events utilizing the operational forecasts from the ECMWF model.We find that the third event had the highest predictability since it achieves the best skill in forecasting the East Asian cooling among the three events.Therefore,the predictability of these cold events,as well as their relationships with the atmospheric initial conditions,Arctic sea ice,and La Niña deserve further investigation.展开更多
Starting in mid-November,China was hit by several cold events during the early winter of 2020/21.The lowest temperature observed at Beijing station on 7 January reached−19.6°C.In this paper,we show that the outbr...Starting in mid-November,China was hit by several cold events during the early winter of 2020/21.The lowest temperature observed at Beijing station on 7 January reached−19.6°C.In this paper,we show that the outbreak of the record-breaking extreme cold event can be attributed to a huge merging Ural blocking(UB)ridge over the Eurasian region.The sea-ice cover in the Kara and East Siberia Seas(KESS)in autumn was at its lowest value since 1979,which could have served as a precursor signal.Further analysis shows that several successive UB episodes occurred from 1 September 2020 to 10 January 2021.The persistent UB that occurred in late September/early October 2020 may have made an important contribution to the October historical minimum of sea ice in the KESS region.Our results also show that,after each UB episode in winter,significant upward propagation of wave activity occurred around 60°E,which resulted in weakening the stratospheric vortex.Meanwhile,each UB episode also caused a significant reduction in sea-ice extent in KESS and a significant weakening of the westerly jet in mid-high-latitude Eurasia.Results suggest that the Arctic vortex,which is supposed to enhance seasonally,became weaker and more unstable than the climatic mean under the seasonal cumulative effects of UB episodes,KESS warming,and long-lasting negative-phase North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO-).Those seasonal cumulative effects,combined with the impact of La Niña winter,led to the frequent occurrence of extreme cold events.展开更多
China experienced significant flooding in the summer of 2020 and multiple extreme cold surges during the winter of 2020/21.Additionally,the 2020 typhoon season had below average activity with especially quiet activity...China experienced significant flooding in the summer of 2020 and multiple extreme cold surges during the winter of 2020/21.Additionally,the 2020 typhoon season had below average activity with especially quiet activity during the first half of the season in the western North Pacific(WNP).Sea surface temperature changes in the Pacific,Indian,and Atlantic Oceans all contributed to the heavy rainfall in China,but the Atlantic and Indian Oceans seem to have played dominant roles.Enhancement and movement of the Siberian High caused a wavier pattern in the jet stream that allowed cold polar air to reach southward,inducing cold surges in China.Large vertical wind shear and low humidity in the WNP were responsible for fewer typhoons in the first half of the typhoon season.Although it is known that global warming can increase the frequency of extreme weather and climate events,its influences on individual events still need to be quantified.Additionally,the extreme cold surge during 16–18 February 2021 in the United States shares similar mechanisms with the winter 2020/21 extreme cold surges in China.展开更多
Arctic sea ice loss and the associated enhanced warming has been related to midlatitude weather and climate changes through modulate meridional temperature gradients linked to circulation. However, contrasting lines o...Arctic sea ice loss and the associated enhanced warming has been related to midlatitude weather and climate changes through modulate meridional temperature gradients linked to circulation. However, contrasting lines of evidence result in low confidence in the influence of Arctic warming on midlatitude climate. This study examines the additional perspectives that palaeoclimate evidence provides on the decadal relationship between autumn sea ice extent (SIE) in the Barents-Kara (B-K) Seas and extreme cold wave events (ECWEs) in southern China. Reconstruction of the winter Cold Index and SIE in the B-K Seas from 1289 to 2017 shows that a significant anti-phase relationship occurred during most periods of decreasing SIE, indicating that cold winters are more likely in low SIE years due to the “bridge” role of the North Atlantic Oscillation and Siberian High. It is confirmed that the recent increase in ECWEs in southern China is closely related to the sea ice decline in the B-K Seas. However, our results show that the linkage is unstable, especially in high SIE periods, and it is probably modulated by atmospheric internal variability.展开更多
Several consecutive extreme cold events impacted China during the first half of winter 2020/21,breaking the low-temperature records in many cities.How to make accurate climate predictions of extreme cold events is sti...Several consecutive extreme cold events impacted China during the first half of winter 2020/21,breaking the low-temperature records in many cities.How to make accurate climate predictions of extreme cold events is still an urgent issue.The synergistic effect of the warm Arctic and cold tropical Pacific has been demonstrated to intensify the intrusions of cold air from polar regions into middle-high latitudes,further influencing the cold conditions in China.However,climate models failed to predict these two ocean environments at expected lead times.Most seasonal climate forecasts only predicted the 2020/21 La Niña after the signal had already become apparent and significantly underestimated the observed Arctic sea ice loss in autumn 2020 with a 1-2 month advancement.In this work,the corresponding physical factors that may help improve the accuracy of seasonal climate predictions are further explored.For the 2020/21 La Niña prediction,through sensitivity experiments involving different atmospheric-oceanic initial conditions,the predominant southeasterly wind anomalies over the equatorial Pacific in spring of 2020 are diagnosed to play an irreplaceable role in triggering this cold event.A reasonable inclusion of atmospheric surface winds into the initialization will help the model predict La Niña development from the early spring of 2020.For predicting the Arctic sea ice loss in autumn 2020,an anomalously cyclonic circulation from the central Arctic Ocean predicted by the model,which swept abnormally hot air over Siberia into the Arctic Ocean,is recognized as an important contributor to successfully predicting the minimum Arctic sea ice extent.展开更多
The number of days with occurrence of winter regional extreme cold events(RECEs) in China was found more during 1960/1961–1985/1986(period 1), less during 1986/1987–2005/2006(period 2), but more again during2006/200...The number of days with occurrence of winter regional extreme cold events(RECEs) in China was found more during 1960/1961–1985/1986(period 1), less during 1986/1987–2005/2006(period 2), but more again during2006/2007–2017/2018(period 3). So far, the differences in the atmospheric circulation favoring RECEs among these three periods are unclear. In this paper, changes in atmospheric circulation during the RECEs over China are examined by using composite analysis based on the station observed temperature data and NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data in winters of 1960/1961–2017/2018. The results show:(1) the stratospheric polar vortex was more active and tended to split before the outbreak of RECEs in period 3 than that in other two periods. The shift of the stratospheric polar vortex to Eurasia helped the upper Arctic cold air to affect the lower latitudes.(2) The troposphere was characterized by a typical or significant three-wave pattern before the outbreak of RECEs in period 2, in contrast to a weakened three-wave pattern in period 1. Compared to periods 1 and 2, the Okhotsk blocking high was stronger in period 3, contributing to the inverted omega-shaped circulation pattern in East Asia–North Pacific section and a shift of global pattern from three-wave to two-wave. The weakened three-wave or two-wave circulation pattern was manifested by the stronger Ural/Okhotsk blocking high, conducive to the strengthening of the meridional circulation and the occurrence of RECEs in East Asia.(3) The Siberian high was the strongest in period 3, followed by period 1, and it was the weakest in period 2. Before the outbreak of RECEs, the Siberian high in period 3 began to intensify one week earlier than that in periods 1 and 2. Thus, the accumulation time of cold air mass in period 3 was the longest. In summary, the synergism of atmospheric circulation at high and low levels in periods 1 and 3 was more conducive to more and strong RECEs than that in period 2. Moreover, the split of the stratospheric polar vortex may have play展开更多
The study aimed at analyzing the trends and variability of temperature extreme</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span st...The study aimed at analyzing the trends and variability of temperature extreme</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">s</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> over </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">the </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">northeastern highlands in Tanzania, specifically over Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions. Quality controlled mean monthly, daily maximum and minimum temperature data for the period 1961 to 2020</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> obtained from Tanzania Meteorological Authority</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> were used in the study. Rclimdex and the National Climate Monitoring Products (NMCP) software</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> developed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> were used for computation of the indices at a monthly, season展开更多
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (A) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20050101)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41530528, 41871104)+3 种基金the Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation Project (Y7Gc011012)the Key Research and Development Programs for Global Change and Adaptation (2017YFA0603604)the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) Projectthe Thousand Youth Talents Plan Project in China
文摘Climate extremes have emerged as a crucial driver of changes in terrestrial ecosystems. The Tibetan Plateau, facing a rapid climate change, tends to favor climate extremes. But we lack a clear understanding of the impacts of such extremes on alpine grasslands. Here we show that extreme events(drought,extreme wet, extreme cold and extreme hot) occurred at a frequency of 0.67–4 months decade^(-1) during2001–2015, with extreme precipitation predominantly occurring in June-to-August and extreme temperatures in May. Drought and extreme wet cause opposite and asymmetric effects on grassland growth,with drought-induced reductions greater than increases due to extreme wet. Grassland responses to extreme temperatures, which predominantly occur in May, show a dipole-like spatial pattern, with extreme hot(cold) events enhanced(reduced) growth in the eastern plateau but slightly reduced(enhanced) growth in the western plateau. These opposite responses to extreme temperatures over the eastern plateau are explained by the possibility that the occurrence of extreme cold slows the preseason temperature accumulation, delaying the triggering of spring phenology, while extreme hot hastens the accumulation. In the western plateau, in contrast, positive responses to extreme cold are induced by accompanying high precipitation. Furthermore, high extremeness of climate events generally led to a much lower extremeness in growth response, implying that the Tibetan grasslands have a relatively high resistance to climate extremes. The ecosystem models tested could not accurately simulate grassland responses to drought and extreme temperatures, and require re-parameterization before trust can be placed in their output for this region.
基金supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2009BAC51B02)
文摘The distinct precursory signals of countrywide extensive and persistent extreme cold events (CECs) were investigated and contrasted with those of countrywide cold wave events (CCWs). It is shown that most CECs were accompanied by a CCW in the initial stages. From the comparison between the CECs and the CCWs that were independent of any CEC, it is found that a south- west-northeast-oriented tilted ridge at 500 hPa was present around the Europe-Barents Sea regions approximately 10 days prior to the start of the CEC. Consistent with this feature, a high sea level pressure and strong cold air accumulation occurred over a broad extent of northern Eurasia one week prior to the start of the CEC. The tilted ridge and the strong cold air accumulation were the precursory signals that were absent for the CCW, and they provide important clues for the early prediction of whether a CCW event might evolve into a CEC.
基金support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos:41790475,42005046,and 41790473)。
文摘Three extreme cold events invaded China during the early winter period between December 2020 to mid-January 2021 and caused drastic temperature drops,setting new low-temperature records at many stations during 6−8 January 2021.These cold events occurred under background conditions of low Arctic sea ice extent and a La Niña event.This is somewhat expected since the coupled effect of large Arctic sea ice loss in autumn and sea surface temperature cooling in the tropical Pacific usually favors cold event occurrences in Eurasia.Further diagnosis reveals that the first cold event is related to the southward movement of the polar vortex and the second one is related to a continent-wide ridge,while both the southward polar vortex and the Asian blocking are crucial for the third event.Here,we evaluate the forecast skill for these three events utilizing the operational forecasts from the ECMWF model.We find that the third event had the highest predictability since it achieves the best skill in forecasting the East Asian cooling among the three events.Therefore,the predictability of these cold events,as well as their relationships with the atmospheric initial conditions,Arctic sea ice,and La Niña deserve further investigation.
基金the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grants Nos. 41975068, 41790473, and 41975099)the Chinese Academy of Sciences Strategic Priority Research Program (Grant No. XDA19070403).
文摘Starting in mid-November,China was hit by several cold events during the early winter of 2020/21.The lowest temperature observed at Beijing station on 7 January reached−19.6°C.In this paper,we show that the outbreak of the record-breaking extreme cold event can be attributed to a huge merging Ural blocking(UB)ridge over the Eurasian region.The sea-ice cover in the Kara and East Siberia Seas(KESS)in autumn was at its lowest value since 1979,which could have served as a precursor signal.Further analysis shows that several successive UB episodes occurred from 1 September 2020 to 10 January 2021.The persistent UB that occurred in late September/early October 2020 may have made an important contribution to the October historical minimum of sea ice in the KESS region.Our results also show that,after each UB episode in winter,significant upward propagation of wave activity occurred around 60°E,which resulted in weakening the stratospheric vortex.Meanwhile,each UB episode also caused a significant reduction in sea-ice extent in KESS and a significant weakening of the westerly jet in mid-high-latitude Eurasia.Results suggest that the Arctic vortex,which is supposed to enhance seasonally,became weaker and more unstable than the climatic mean under the seasonal cumulative effects of UB episodes,KESS warming,and long-lasting negative-phase North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO-).Those seasonal cumulative effects,combined with the impact of La Niña winter,led to the frequent occurrence of extreme cold events.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41731173)the National Key R&D Program of China(Grant No.2019YFA0606701)+2 种基金the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.XDB42000000 and XDA20060502)the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory(Guangzhou)(Grant No.GML2019ZD0306)the Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering,the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.ISEE2018PY06)。
文摘China experienced significant flooding in the summer of 2020 and multiple extreme cold surges during the winter of 2020/21.Additionally,the 2020 typhoon season had below average activity with especially quiet activity during the first half of the season in the western North Pacific(WNP).Sea surface temperature changes in the Pacific,Indian,and Atlantic Oceans all contributed to the heavy rainfall in China,but the Atlantic and Indian Oceans seem to have played dominant roles.Enhancement and movement of the Siberian High caused a wavier pattern in the jet stream that allowed cold polar air to reach southward,inducing cold surges in China.Large vertical wind shear and low humidity in the WNP were responsible for fewer typhoons in the first half of the typhoon season.Although it is known that global warming can increase the frequency of extreme weather and climate events,its influences on individual events still need to be quantified.Additionally,the extreme cold surge during 16–18 February 2021 in the United States shares similar mechanisms with the winter 2020/21 extreme cold surges in China.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.42101142)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDA19070103)the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST(Grant No.2022QNRC001).
文摘Arctic sea ice loss and the associated enhanced warming has been related to midlatitude weather and climate changes through modulate meridional temperature gradients linked to circulation. However, contrasting lines of evidence result in low confidence in the influence of Arctic warming on midlatitude climate. This study examines the additional perspectives that palaeoclimate evidence provides on the decadal relationship between autumn sea ice extent (SIE) in the Barents-Kara (B-K) Seas and extreme cold wave events (ECWEs) in southern China. Reconstruction of the winter Cold Index and SIE in the B-K Seas from 1289 to 2017 shows that a significant anti-phase relationship occurred during most periods of decreasing SIE, indicating that cold winters are more likely in low SIE years due to the “bridge” role of the North Atlantic Oscillation and Siberian High. It is confirmed that the recent increase in ECWEs in southern China is closely related to the sea ice decline in the B-K Seas. However, our results show that the linkage is unstable, especially in high SIE periods, and it is probably modulated by atmospheric internal variability.
基金supported by the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences,CAS (Grant No. ZDBS-LY-DQC010)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41876012 and 41861144015,42175045)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.XDB42000000).
文摘Several consecutive extreme cold events impacted China during the first half of winter 2020/21,breaking the low-temperature records in many cities.How to make accurate climate predictions of extreme cold events is still an urgent issue.The synergistic effect of the warm Arctic and cold tropical Pacific has been demonstrated to intensify the intrusions of cold air from polar regions into middle-high latitudes,further influencing the cold conditions in China.However,climate models failed to predict these two ocean environments at expected lead times.Most seasonal climate forecasts only predicted the 2020/21 La Niña after the signal had already become apparent and significantly underestimated the observed Arctic sea ice loss in autumn 2020 with a 1-2 month advancement.In this work,the corresponding physical factors that may help improve the accuracy of seasonal climate predictions are further explored.For the 2020/21 La Niña prediction,through sensitivity experiments involving different atmospheric-oceanic initial conditions,the predominant southeasterly wind anomalies over the equatorial Pacific in spring of 2020 are diagnosed to play an irreplaceable role in triggering this cold event.A reasonable inclusion of atmospheric surface winds into the initialization will help the model predict La Niña development from the early spring of 2020.For predicting the Arctic sea ice loss in autumn 2020,an anomalously cyclonic circulation from the central Arctic Ocean predicted by the model,which swept abnormally hot air over Siberia into the Arctic Ocean,is recognized as an important contributor to successfully predicting the minimum Arctic sea ice extent.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41790471)Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20100304)。
文摘The number of days with occurrence of winter regional extreme cold events(RECEs) in China was found more during 1960/1961–1985/1986(period 1), less during 1986/1987–2005/2006(period 2), but more again during2006/2007–2017/2018(period 3). So far, the differences in the atmospheric circulation favoring RECEs among these three periods are unclear. In this paper, changes in atmospheric circulation during the RECEs over China are examined by using composite analysis based on the station observed temperature data and NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data in winters of 1960/1961–2017/2018. The results show:(1) the stratospheric polar vortex was more active and tended to split before the outbreak of RECEs in period 3 than that in other two periods. The shift of the stratospheric polar vortex to Eurasia helped the upper Arctic cold air to affect the lower latitudes.(2) The troposphere was characterized by a typical or significant three-wave pattern before the outbreak of RECEs in period 2, in contrast to a weakened three-wave pattern in period 1. Compared to periods 1 and 2, the Okhotsk blocking high was stronger in period 3, contributing to the inverted omega-shaped circulation pattern in East Asia–North Pacific section and a shift of global pattern from three-wave to two-wave. The weakened three-wave or two-wave circulation pattern was manifested by the stronger Ural/Okhotsk blocking high, conducive to the strengthening of the meridional circulation and the occurrence of RECEs in East Asia.(3) The Siberian high was the strongest in period 3, followed by period 1, and it was the weakest in period 2. Before the outbreak of RECEs, the Siberian high in period 3 began to intensify one week earlier than that in periods 1 and 2. Thus, the accumulation time of cold air mass in period 3 was the longest. In summary, the synergism of atmospheric circulation at high and low levels in periods 1 and 3 was more conducive to more and strong RECEs than that in period 2. Moreover, the split of the stratospheric polar vortex may have play
文摘The study aimed at analyzing the trends and variability of temperature extreme</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">s</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> over </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">the </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">northeastern highlands in Tanzania, specifically over Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions. Quality controlled mean monthly, daily maximum and minimum temperature data for the period 1961 to 2020</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> obtained from Tanzania Meteorological Authority</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> were used in the study. Rclimdex and the National Climate Monitoring Products (NMCP) software</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> developed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> were used for computation of the indices at a monthly, season
