Geographia Technica, No. 1/2009, pp. 8 - 20

THE JULY 2007 HEAT WAVE IN OLTENIA (SW ROMANIA) IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

 C. Burada, O. Sandu

ABSTRACT - This paper analyses the July 2007 heat wave when many records have been registered (daily maximum temperature higher than 40°C and consecutive “dog days” in some localities, about ten days). The absolute record for July (43.50C at Giurgiu on 05.07.2000) was exceeded by Calafat (44.3°C), Bechet (44.2°C), Moldova Noua and Bailesti (44°C), which were also very close to the maximum absolute temperature record (44.5°C at Ion-Sion in August 1951). These extreme meteorological phenomena not only through their high intensity, but also their long lasting presence, required the issuance by NAM of several meteorological warnings. On July 24 a red code warning was issued for Oltenia for the first time. The “dog days” produced a lot of damages in our region and also a part of the Romanian territory was affected. This analysis adds more elements of the climatic variability panel in Romania concerning the thermal regime and the extreme associated phenomena. The results and the conclusions of this work will support the forecasters to anticipate the heat waves.

Keywords: heat wave, climate change, synoptic analysis, TUI (Temperature-Humidity Index), Oltenia

Full article:burada_the_july_2007_heat_wave_in_oltenia.pdf