Abstract
Despite the small size of England and Wales, the rainfall there shows large variations, possibly due to geographical and topographical conditions. Spectral analysis shows a large number of periodicities, but many are statistically insignificant, indicating considerable randomness. Significant periodicities are invariably in the low periodicity region (periodicity < 5 yr). Occasionally, high periodicities are also encountered, but are always accompanied by low periodicities. Hence, meaningful predictions are not possible.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Craddock, J. M.: 1976, ‘Annual Rainfall in England Since 1925’, Quart. J. Roy. Met. Soc. 102, 823–840.
Craddock, J. M.: 1977, ‘A Homogeneous Record of Monthly Rainfall Totals for Norwich for the Years 1936 to 1976’, Met. Mag. 106, 267–278.
Gray, B. M.: 1976, ‘Medium Term Fluctuations of Rainfall in Southeastern England’, Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 102, 627–638.
Gregory, S.: 1975, ‘On the Delimitation of Regional Patterns of Recent Climatic Fluctuations’, Weather 30, 276–287.
Jones, P. D.: 1980, ‘A Homogeneous Rainfall Record for the Cirencester Area 1844–1977’, Met. Mag. 109, 249–258.
Kane, R. P. and Trivedi, N. B.: 1986, ‘Are Droughts Predictable?’ Climatic Change 8, 209–223.
Nicholas, F. J. and Glasspole, J.: 1931, ‘General Monthly Rainfall over England and Wales 1727 to 1931’, British Rainfall (1931), pp. 299–305.
Symons, G. J.: 1866, ‘On the Rainfall of the British Isles, Report of the 35th meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science’, Birmingham, Sept. 1865, p. 192.
Tabony, R. C.: 1979, ‘Spectral and Filter Analysis of Long-period Rainfall Records in England and Wales’, Met. Mag. 108, 97–118.
Tabony, R. C.: 1980a, ‘A Set of Homogeneous European Rainfall Series’, Met 0.13 Branch Memorandum 104, Meteorological Office Library, Bracknell, U.K.
Tabony, R. C.: 1980b, ‘A Revised Rainfall Series for Spalding, Lincolnshire’, Met. Mag. 109, 152–157.
Tabony, R. C.: 1981, ‘A Principal Component and Spectral Analysis of European Rainfall’, J. Climatol. 1, 283–294.
Wales-Smith, B. G.: 1971, ‘Monthly and Annual Totals of Rainfall Representative of Kew, Surrey, from 1697 to 1970’, Met. Mag. 100, 345–362.
Wigley, T. M. L. and Jones, P. D.: 1987, ‘England and Wales Precipitation: A Discussion of Recent Changes in Variability and an Update to 1985’, J. Climatology 7, 231–246.
Wigley, T. M. L., Lough, J. M., and Jones, P. D.: 1984, ‘Spatial Patterns of Precipitation in England and Wales and a Revised Homogeneous England and Wales Precipitation Series’, J. Climatology 4, 1–25.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kane, R.P. Spectral characteristics of the series of annual rainfall in England and Wales. Climatic Change 12, 77–92 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140265
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140265