Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

The climate in Zafra from 1750 to 1840: precipitation

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this work, we present the construction of a rainfall index for Zafra (southwestern Spain) during the period 1750–1840 from documentary sources. For this purpose we used the correspondence of the Duke of Feria that contains a quasi-weekly report of the weather in Zafra. In order to check its reliability, the Zafra rainfall index was compared with the short rainfall series available from relatively close stations, including Lisbon, Mafra, Seville and Gibraltar, all of which show a similar pattern. We also studied the atmospheric circulation over North Atlantic and western Europe in the period 1750–1840 for the months characterized by extreme values of the percentage of rainy weeks in the period 1750–1840, specifically those months above the 95th percentile or below the 5th percentile. The average large-scale atmospheric circulation maps corresponding to the months with high percentages of rainy weeks have negative Sea Level Pressure (SLP) anomalies around southwestern Iberian Peninsula (IP) and higher than usual SLP around Iceland. On the other hand, the maps corresponding to the winter months with low percentages of rainy weeks are dominated by an anticyclonic circulation over the south Europe affecting southwestern IP. The monthly rainfall index anomalies for the study period were calculated and results show two wet period (from 1782 to 1789 and from 1799 to 1807) and two dry ones (from 1796 to 1799 and from 1816 to 1819) in accordance with other regional precipitation series available.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Alcoforado MJ, Nunes F, García JC, Taborda JP (2000) Temperature and precipitation reconstruction in southern Portugal during the Late Maunder Minimum (AD 1675-1715). The Holocene 10:333–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcoforado MJ, Vaquero JM, Trigo RM, Taborda JP (2012) Early Portuguese meteorological measurements (18th century). Clim Past 8:353–371. doi:10.5194/cp-8-353-2012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barriendos M, Llasat MC (2003) The case of the “Malda” anomaly in the western Mediterranean basin (AD 1760-1800): an example of a strong climatic variability. Clim Change 64:191–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barriendos M, Martin-Vide J (1998) Secular climatic oscillations as indicated by catastrophic floods in the Spanish Mediterranean coastal area (14th -19th centuries). Clim Change 38:473–491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barriopedro D, Gallego D, Álvarez-Castro MC, García-Herrera R, Wheeler D, Pena-Ortiz C, Barbosa SM (2014) Witnessing North Atlantic westerlies variability from ships’ logbooks (1685-2008). Clim Dyn 43:939–955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brázdil R (1996) Reconstructions of past climate from historical sources in the Czech Lands. In: Jones PD, Bradley RS, Jouzel J (eds) Climatic variations and forcing mechanisms of the last 2000 years. Springer, Berlin, pp 409–431

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brázdil R, Demarée GR, Deutsch M, Garnier E, Kiss A, Luterbacher J, Macdonald N, Rohr C, Dobrovolný P, Koláo P, Chromá K (2010a) European floods during the winter 1783/1784: scenarios of an extreme event during the “Little Ice Age”. Theor Appl Climatol 100:163–189. doi:10.1007/s00704-009-0170-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brázdil R, Dobrovolný P, Luterbacher J, Moberg A, Pfister C, Wheeler D, Zorita E (2010b) European climate of the past 500 years: new challenges for historical climatology. Clim Change 101:7–40. doi:10.1007/s10584-009-9783-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buishand TA (1982) Some methods for testing the homogeneity of rainfall records. J Hidr 58:11–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camuffo D, Bertolin C, Barriendos M et al (2010) 500-year temperature reconstruction in the Mediterranean Basin by means of documentary data and instrumental observations. Clim Change 101(1–2):169–199. doi:10.1007/s10584-010-9815-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CNPC-CTI, Comisión Nacional de Protección Civil. Comisión Técnica de Inundaciones (1983) Estudio de inundaciones históricas y Mapa de riesgos potenciales-Cuenca del Guadalquivir, vol 2. Servicio de Publicaciones del MOPU, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, D’Arrigo RD, Mann ME (2002) A well-verified. Multiproxy reconstruction of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index since AD 1400. J Climate 15:1754–1764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornes RC, Jones PD, Briffa KR, Osborn TJ (2012) A daily series of mean sea-level pressure for London, 1692-2007. Int J Climatol 32:641–656. doi:10.1002/joc.2301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortesi N, González- Hidalgo JC, Trigo RM, Ramos AM (2013) Weather types and spatial variability of precipitation in the Iberian Peninsula. Int J Clim 34:2661–2677. doi:10.1002/joc.3866

  • D’Arrigo, Seager R, Smerdon JE, LeGrande AN, Cook ER (2011) The anomalous winter of 1783-1784: was the Laki eruption or an analog of the 2009-2010 winter to blame? Geophys Res Lett 38:L05706

    Google Scholar 

  • Diodato N (2007) Climatic fluctuations in southern Italy since the 17th century: reconstruction with precipitation records at Benevento. Clim Change 80:411–431. doi:10.1007/s10584-006-9119-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobrovolný P, Moberg A, Brázdil R et al (2010) Monthly and seasonal temperature reconstructions for Central Europe derived from documentary evidence and instrumental records since AD 1500. Clim Change 101:69–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez-Castro F, Ribera P, García-Herrera R, Vaquero JM, Barriendos M, Cuadrat JM, Moreno JM (2012a) Assessing extreme droughts in Spain during 1750-1840 from rogations ceremonies. Clim Past 8:705–722. doi:10.5194/cp-8-705-2012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez-Castro F, Vaquero JM, Marín M, Gallego MC, García-Herrera R (2012b) How useful could Arabic documentary sources be for reconstructing past climate? Weather 67(3):76–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez-Castro F, Trigo RM, Vaquero JM (2013) The first meteorological measurements in the Iberian Peninsula: evaluating the storm of November 1724. Clim Change 118:443–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez-Castro F, Vaquero JM, Rodrigo FS, Farrona AMM, Gallego MC, García-Herrera R, Barriendos M, Sánchez-Lorenzo A (2014) Early Spanish meteorological records (1780-1850). Int J Climatol. 34:593–603. doi:10.1002/joc.3709

  • Enzi S, Bertolin C, Diodato N (2013) Snowfall time-series reconstruction in Italy over the last 300 years. The Holocene 24(3):346–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Fernández MI, Gallego MC, Dominguez-Castro F, Trigo RM, García JA, Vaquero JM, Gonzalez JM, Durán JC (2014) The climate in Zafra from 1750 to 1840. History and description of weather observation. Clim Change 126:107–118. doi:10.1007/s10584-014-1201-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Font-Tullot I (1988) Historia del Clima en España, Cambios Climáticos y sus causas. Instituto Nacional de Meteorología, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallego MC, García JA, Vaquero JM (2005) The NAO signal in daily rainfall series over the Iberian Peninsula. Clim Res 29:103–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser R, Diemann D, Schönbein J et al (2010) The variability of European floods since AD 1500. Clim Change 101:235–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grab S, Nash DJ (2010) Documentary evidence of climate variability during cold seasons in Lesotho, southern Africa, 1833–1900. Clim Dyn 34:473–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurrell J, Kushnir Y, Ottersen G, Visbeck M (2003) An overview of the North Atlantic Oscillation. In: Hurrel J, Kushnir Y, Ottersen G, Visbeck M (eds) In the north Atlantic oscillation: climatic significance and environmental impact. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 1–35

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jones PD, Jonsson T, Wheeler D (1997) Extension to the North Atlantic Oscillation using instrumental pressure observations from Gibraltar and South-West Iceland. Int J Climatol 17:1433–1450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones P, Osborn T, Briffa H (2003) Pressure-based measures of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO): a comparison and an assessment of changes in the strength of the NAO and its influence on surface climate parameters. In: Hurrell J, Kushnir Y, Ottersen G, Visbeck M (eds) The North Atlantic Oscillation: climatic significance and environmental impact. Amerian Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 51–62

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kelso C, Vogel CH (2007) The climate of Namaqualand in the nineteenth century. Clim Change 83:357–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kington J (1988) The weather of the 1780s over Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb HH (1977) Climate: present, past and future, vol.2: climatic history and the future, Methuen, London, 835 pp

  • Luterbacher J, Xoplaki E, Dietrich D, Jones PD, Davies TD, Portis D, Gonzalez-Rouco JF, von Storch H, Gyalistras D, Casty C, Wanner H (2002a) North Atlantic oscillation reconstruction back to 1500. Atmos Sci Lett 2:114–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luterbacher J, Xoplaki E, Dietrich D, Rickli R, Jacobeit J, Beck C, Gyalistras D, Schmutz C, Wanner H (2002b) Reconstruction of sea level pressure fields over the Eastern North Atlantic and Europe back to 1500. Clim Dyn 18(7):545–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfister C (1984) Klimageschichte der Schweiz 1525–1860. Das Klima der Schweiz und seine Bedeutung in der Geschichte von Bevölkerung und Landwirtschaft. Paul Haupt, Bern, 184 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodó X, Baert E, Comín FA (1997) Variations in seasonal rainfall in Southern Europe during the present century: relationships with the North Atlantic Oscillation and the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Clim Dyn 13:275–284. doi:10.1007/s003820050165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigo FS, Esteban-Parra MJ, Castro-Díez Y (1994) An attempt to reconstruct the rainfall regime of Andalusia (southern Spain) from 1601 AD to 1650 AD using historical documents. Clim Change 27:397–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano A, García JA, Mateos VL, Cancillo ML, Garrido J (1999) Monthly modes of variation of precipitation over de Iberian Peninsula. J Climate 12:2894–2919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slonosky V, Jones P, Davies T (2000) Variability of the surface atmospheric circulation over Europe, 1774–1995. Int J Climatol 20:1875–1897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stothers RB (1984) The great Tambora eruption in 1815 and its aftermath. Science 224:1191–1198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thodarson T, Self S (2003) Atmospheric and environmental effects of the 1783-1784 Laki eruption: a review and reassessment. J Geophys Res 108(D1):4011. doi:10.1029/2001JD002042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigo RM, Osborn TJ, Corte-Real J (2002) The North Atlantic Oscillation influence on Europe: climate impacts and associated physical mechanisms. Clim Res 20:9–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigo RM, Pozo-Vázquez D, Osborn TJ, Castro-Díez Y, Gámiz-Fortis S, Esteban-Parra MJ (2004) North Atlantic Oscillation influence on precipitation, river flow and water resources in Iberian Peninsula. In J Climatol 24:925–944

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigo RM, Valente MA, Trigo F, Mirada PMA et al (2008) The impact of North Atlantic wind and cyclone trends on European precipitation and significant wave height in the Atlantic. Ann N Y Acad Sci 46:212–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigo RM, Vaquero JM, Alcoforado MJ, Barriendos M, Taborda J, García-Herrera R, Luterbacher J (2009) Iberia in 1816, the year without a summer. Int J Climatol 29:99–115. doi:10.1002/joc.1693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero JM (2007) Historical sunspot observations: a review. Adv Space Res 40:929–941

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero JM, García-Herrera R, Wheeler D, Chenoweth M, Mock C (2008) A historical analogue of 2005 Hurricane Vince. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 89:191–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner S, Zorita E (2005) The influence of volcanic, solar and CO2 forcing on the temperatures in the Dalton minimum (1790-1830): a model study. Clim Dyn 25:205–218. doi:10.1007/s00382-005-0029-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler D (2007) The Gibraltar climatic record: part 2 precipitation. Weather 62:99–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler D (2012) The Gibraltar climatic record: part 4 the earliest records. Weather 67:240–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng J, Ding L, Hao Z, Ge Q (2012) Extreme cold winter events in southern China during AD 1650–2000. Boreas 41:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zorita E, Kharin V, von Storch H (1992) The atmospheric circulation and sea temperature in the North Atlantic area in winter: their interaction and relevance for Iberian precipitation. J Climate 5:1097–1108

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Support from the Junta de Extremadura (Research Group Grant No. GR10131) and FCT (Klimhist, PTDC/AACCLI/119078/2010) are gratefully acknowledged. Fernando Domínguez-Castro was partially supported by the Prometeo Project, Secretariat of Higher Learning, Science, Technology and Innovation (Ecuador Government).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Física, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain

    M. I. Fernández-Fernández, M. C. Gallego & J. M. Vaquero

  2. Departamento de ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador

    F. Domínguez-Castro

  3. Instituto Dom Luiz, (IDL), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    R. M. Trigo

Authors
  1. M. I. Fernández-Fernández
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. C. Gallego
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. F. Domínguez-Castro
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. M. Trigo
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. M. Vaquero
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. M. Vaquero.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 21 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fernández-Fernández, M.I., Gallego, M.C., Domínguez-Castro, F. et al. The climate in Zafra from 1750 to 1840: precipitation. Climatic Change 129, 267–280 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1315-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1315-9

Keywords