Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Quantifying the Non-Gaussianity of Wintertime Daily Maximum and Minimum Temperatures in the Southeast

Lydia Stefanova Center for Ocean–Atmospheric Prediction Studies, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

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Philip Sura Center for Ocean–Atmospheric Prediction Studies, and Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmosphere Science, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

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Melissa Griffin Center for Ocean–Atmospheric Prediction Studies, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

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Print Publication:
01 Feb 2013
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00161.1
Page(s):
838–850
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Abstract

In this paper the statistics of daily maximum and minimum surface air temperature at weather stations in the southeast United States are examined as a function of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) phase. A limited number of studies address how the ENSO and/or AO affect U.S. daily—as opposed to monthly or seasonal—temperature averages. The details of the effect of the ENSO or AO on the higher-order statistics for wintertime daily minimum and maximum temperatures have not been clearly documented.

Quality-controlled daily observations collected from 1960 to 2009 from 272 National Weather Service Cooperative Observing Network stations throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South and North Carolina are used to calculate the first four statistical moments of minimum and maximum daily temperature distributions. It is found that, over the U.S. Southeast, winter minimum temperatures have higher variability than maximum temperatures and La Niña winters have greater variability of both minimum and maximum temperatures. With the exception of the Florida peninsula, minimum temperatures are positively skewed, while maximum temperatures are negatively skewed. Stations in peninsular Florida exhibit negative skewness for both maximum and minimum temperatures. During the relatively warmer winters associated with either a La Niña or AO+, negative skewnesses are exacerbated and positive skewnesses are reduced. To a lesser extent, the converse is true of the El Niño and AO−. The ENSO and AO are also shown to have a statistically significant effect on the change in kurtosis of daily maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the domain.

Corresponding author address: Lydia Stefanova, Center for Ocean–Atmospheric Prediction Studies, The Florida State University, 2035 E. Paul Dirac Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32306. E-mail: lstefanova@fsu.edu

Abstract

In this paper the statistics of daily maximum and minimum surface air temperature at weather stations in the southeast United States are examined as a function of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) phase. A limited number of studies address how the ENSO and/or AO affect U.S. daily—as opposed to monthly or seasonal—temperature averages. The details of the effect of the ENSO or AO on the higher-order statistics for wintertime daily minimum and maximum temperatures have not been clearly documented.

Quality-controlled daily observations collected from 1960 to 2009 from 272 National Weather Service Cooperative Observing Network stations throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South and North Carolina are used to calculate the first four statistical moments of minimum and maximum daily temperature distributions. It is found that, over the U.S. Southeast, winter minimum temperatures have higher variability than maximum temperatures and La Niña winters have greater variability of both minimum and maximum temperatures. With the exception of the Florida peninsula, minimum temperatures are positively skewed, while maximum temperatures are negatively skewed. Stations in peninsular Florida exhibit negative skewness for both maximum and minimum temperatures. During the relatively warmer winters associated with either a La Niña or AO+, negative skewnesses are exacerbated and positive skewnesses are reduced. To a lesser extent, the converse is true of the El Niño and AO−. The ENSO and AO are also shown to have a statistically significant effect on the change in kurtosis of daily maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the domain.

Corresponding author address: Lydia Stefanova, Center for Ocean–Atmospheric Prediction Studies, The Florida State University, 2035 E. Paul Dirac Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32306. E-mail: lstefanova@fsu.edu
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