SYNOPTIC CONDITIONS AND ANALYSIS OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IN IRAQ AND THE ROSTOV REGION OF RUSSIA

Abstract

In solving the problems of monitoring thunderstorm activity, the analysis of long-term data from visual
observations of thunderstorms has no alternative today. In view of the high frequency of thunderstorms, which are often
accompanied by intense downpours and hail, of particular interest is the study on both the current regime of thunderstorm
activity and its dynamics. The paper looks at the spatio-temporal features of thunderstorm activity over a long-term period.
The research is based on archival data from daily meteorological observations conducted over a period of twenty years at
two meteorological stations in Russia and three meteorological stations in Iraq. A study of the frequency of thunderstorms
during six months of the year and for a 20-year period has shown that thunderstorms in Iraq most often occur in March and April (Khanaqin station), with 42% of them occurring in the northern foothill region of Iraq. According to the analysis
of thunderstorm activity for six months of the year and for a 20-year period in the territory of the Rostov region of Russia,
the highest frequency of thunderstorms is observed in June and July (50.2%). Of the total number of thunderstorms in the
territories under consideration, air-mass thunderstorms account for about 28%. Frontal thunderstorms are mainly observed
in the warm period of the year with the passage of cold atmospheric fronts – 66%. The authors have identified the main
synoptic processes characteristic of the convective clouds formation and studied the seasonal variations of thunderstorm
activity in the two countries in different climatic zones.