Temporal characteristics of extreme high temperatures in Wuhan since 1881

Abstract

The construction and analysis of daily temperature data series in long enough a time period is important to understand decadal to multi-decadal variability and changing trends in extreme temperature events. This paper reports a new analysis of extreme temperature indices over the last 140 yr in Wuhan, China, with an emphasis on changes in extreme high temperature changes. The daily temperature data from 9 stations from 1881 to 1950 and 1 modern station from 1951 to 2020 were used for the analysis. Based on the data, and the commonly used extreme temperature indices, the variations and long-term trends of extreme high temperature events in Wuhan since 1881 were analyzed. The results show that there was no clear warming trend in maximum temperature, but a quite large inter-annual and inter-decadal fluctuation. In contrast, there was a very significant increase in minimum temperature, with a large upward trend overall. The extreme temperature indices exhibit a periodic variability, and frequent extreme heat events have been experienced over the last 140 yr in Wuhan. Most extreme temperature indices did not exhibit remarkable changes during the first half of the period analyzed. However, the majority of the extreme temperature indices showed significant upward trends over the latter half of the 140 yr period. The possible causes of the observed changes in the extreme high temperature events in the different time periods are also discussed.