Keywords: climatological norm, average monthly precipitation, anomaly, air temperature, overmoistening, aridity

The increase in the frequency of intense heat waves and droughts in the European region due to climate change highlights a clear trend towards aridity for the South and East of Ukraine, while in the northern region, against the backdrop of rising air temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns are of a more complex nature. The study used average monthly precipitation amounts for 17 meteorological stations in the northern regions of Ukraine (Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy). Conducted a comparative analysis of indicators for two climatological periods (1961-1990 and 1991-2020), as well as a detailed analysis of changes in moisture over the last decade (2011-2020) in terms of increasing anomaly of the temperature-humidity regime during this period. Changes in the average monthly rainfall amounts show a tendency toward dryness in April, in summer (with a maximum in August), and for most stations in the North of the country from November to January (with a minimum in January). Monthly precipitation amounts increased noticeably in May and October (in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions in some places by 20 mm or more) and, for most stations, in February-March and September. The greatest variability in precipitation fields observed in the last decade (2011-2020). On average, a precipitation deficit observed at the stations in 43-53% of the months, while normal precipitation slightly exceeded the share of months with deficient moisture (except for Zhytomyr and Kyiv). During the warm season, there is a tendency toward drought for all 17 stations in the northern region (in 49-61% of months), while in the cold season, normal distribution or excess moisture predominates, except for Kyiv region, where drought persists except for Yahotyn. Periods of significant excess moisture (200-400% of the norm) were observed in both warm and cold seasons, with January-February, December, and October often being wet. The processes of circulation in the formation of the largest precipitation anomalies have been considered. Extreme humidity conditions were caused by large-scale processes, without taking regional characteristics into account – intense precipitation in southern and western cyclones and a lack of precipitation during blocking processes both in summer and in winter.

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