Climate variability of winter anticyclones in the Mediterranean-Black Sea region

The climatology of winter anticyclone frequency in the Mediterranean-Black Sea region is studied on the basis of NCEP/NCAR reanalyses for 1951–2012. Time series of average anticyclone frequency are calculated for different parts of the region. It is found that the anticyclone frequency is increased significantly over the Black sea and Western Mediterranean regions while decreased over the Eastern Mediterranean. Regional manifestation of global climate processes in variability of the anticyclone frequency is investigated.