Synoptic analysis of the January 2004 snowstorm: Example of Çanakkale

Abstract

Many natural disasters have occurred on the Earth we live in. Humans have always been in a struggle with these natural phenomena. Today, people are still struggling with atmospheric extreme events. One of the most important disasters like this is snowstorms that occur suddenly in winter. Especially countries in the middle belt (30-60 latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere) are constantly affected by snowstorms. Turkey, located in the Middle Belt, is also exposed to these storms during the winter season. From this perspective, the analysis of synoptic conditions and weather forecast is an important factor for risk analysis and take precautions for winter storms. Thus, the predictions made with the tracking of air masses and synoptic analysis make it easier to understand how the storm occurred. For this purpose, synoptic analyses were conducted to understand the development of the snowstorm that occurred in the high atmosphere in Çanakkale on January 20-30, 2004. This study examined how weather conditions change. Radiosonde data, surface maps, and daily bulletins provided from the Turkish State Meteorological Service were used in the study. Archival data were used to track air mass orbits using the Hysplit trajectory method. Stability and instability assessments of air masses were evaluated using the data from radiosonde stations using the K Index. Spatial analysis software was used to analyze the data and show the thematic distribution of topography. According to the findings, during the passage of a cold front of air masses coming from the north to Çanakkale on January 22, gusty winds began, suddenly dropped the temperatures, and began heavy snow events. Later, it turned into a blizzard and formed a type of snow.

Keywords

• Radiosonde
• Snowstorm
• Synoptic Analysis

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