Improved European heat event simulation by resolving oceanic-mesoscale eddies

Improved European heat event simulation by resolving oceanic-mesoscale eddies | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Improved European heat event simulation by resolving oceanic-mesoscale eddies Julian Krueger, Joakim Kjellsson, Katja Lohmann, Daniela Matei, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5475660/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 06 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Owing to the rapid increase of European heat event occurrences over the past decades, the understanding of their physical drivers has become increasingly important for the scientific community. Recently, it has been shown that cold North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are strongly linked to European heat events such as in summer 2015 and 2018. Thereby, an accurate representation of this connection in climate models is crucial for a more realistic European heat event simulation. Here, we investigate the connection by employing seven global coupled climate models, from which six models are embedded in the High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP). High-resolution versions of these models capture mesoscale eddies, thus enabling to study their impact onto the (North Atlantic SST- European summer temperature extremes) connection. Our results show that high-resolution model versions better capture the North Atlantic trough and the downstream ridge anomalies over central Europe, although still underestimated in intensity and duration compared to observations. Improvements in high-resolution configurations are due to the increased ocean model resolution, which reduces the North Atlantic surface biases and improves air-sea interactions, thus having implications for the prediction and projection of climate extremes in the North Atlantic-European region. Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Atmospheric science/Atmospheric dynamics Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ImprovedEuropeanheateventsimulationbyresolvingoceanicmesoscaleeddiesSI.pdf Improved_European_heat_event_simulation_by_resolving_oceanic_mesoscale_eddies__SI Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 06 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5475660","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":386514907,"identity":"66fb93a3-1855-4e3f-920a-e420a40913c8","order_by":0,"name":"Julian 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Recently, it has been shown that cold North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are strongly linked to European heat events such as in summer 2015 and 2018. Thereby, an accurate representation of this connection in climate models is crucial for a more realistic European heat event simulation. Here, we investigate the connection by employing seven global coupled climate models, from which six models are embedded in the High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP). High-resolution versions of these models capture mesoscale eddies, thus enabling to study their impact onto the (North Atlantic SST- European summer temperature extremes) connection. Our results show that high-resolution model versions better capture the North Atlantic trough and the downstream ridge anomalies over central Europe, although still underestimated in intensity\r\nand duration compared to observations. 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