Weekly cycles in precipitation and other meteorological variables in a polluted region of Europe

Abstract. Weekly cycles in aerosol concentration and corresponding cycles in precipitation have been reported over Europe, but results are conflicting. To obtain a large potential effect of aerosols on precipitation the focus will here be on a highly polluted region on the borders between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Meteorological parameters from 30 surface stations in a mix of urban, rural and remote locations were analyzed for the time period 1983–2008, using three different tests: the Kruskal-Wallis test, a spectral analysis and a comparison of the regular 7-day week to constructed 6- and 8-day weeks. A clear and statistically significant weekly cycle will be expected to pass all three tests. Precipitation amount as well as meteorological variables associated with convective conditions, such as the frequency of heavy precipitation events and observations of rain showers, showed two-peak weekly cycles with maxima on Tuesdays and during weekends. The amplitudes of the weekly cycles were in many cases larger for the heavily polluted 1983–1987 period than for the cleaner 2004–2008 period, but were equally often largest in the cleaner period. Moreover, of all the variables, periods and seasons investigated, the weekly cycles were statistically significant only for summertime values of light precipitation frequency and cloud amount, and only by one of the three tests applied (the Kruskal-Wallis test). Conclusively, clear weekly cycles in meteorological variables were not found in this polluted region of Europe.