Science Source
Stephenson, Tannecia S., Vincent, Lucie A., Allen, Theodore, Van Meerbeeck, Cedric J., McLean, Natalie, Peterson, Thomas C., Taylor, Michael A., Aaron‐Morrison, Arlene P., Auguste, Thomas, Bernard, Didier, Boekhoudt, Joffrey R. I., Blenman et al
International Journal of Climatology
Published date January 13, 2014

Changes in extreme temperature and precipitation in the Caribbean region, 1961–2010

  • Presents the trends in daily and extreme temperature and precipitation indices in the Caribbean region for records spanning the 1961–2010 and 1986–2010 intervals
  • Overall, the results show a warming of the surface air temperature at land stations
  • Finds that, in general, the indices based on minimum temperature show stronger warming trends than indices calculated from maximum temperature
  • Finds that the frequency of warm days, warm nights and extreme high temperatures has increased while fewer cool days, cool nights and extreme low temperatures were found for both periods.
  • Finds that changes in precipitation indices are less consistent and the trends are generally weak
  • Identifies small positive trends in annual total precipitation, daily intensity, maximum number of consecutive dry days and heavy rainfall events particularly during the 1986–2010 period
  • Correlations between indices and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) index suggest that temperature variability and, to a lesser extent, precipitation extremes are related to the AMO signal of the North Atlantic surface sea temperatures: stronger associations are found in August and September for the temperature indices and in June and October for some of the precipitation indices

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