The World Meteorological Organization guidelines on the definition and monitoring of extreme weather and climate events advise the following (WMO, 2020):

  • Index: Daily values of Tmax, Tmin, and /or average temperature. Another index could be computed using temperature change in the 24 hours prior to the onset of the event.
  • Threshold: Determined based on historical values of the index.
  • Temporal: Station-level information on starting date, ending date, and duration of the event. Persistence of conditions for a cold wave are two days.
  • Spatial: Calculate the area affected, by providing the percentage of stations where the threshold was surpassed; locate the coordinates of the impacted stations and the center with the highest/lowest values of the indices; and optional, but recommended if resources are available, to use a geographical information system (GIS) to calculate the area affected by the event, the magnitude, and severity.

This hazard category also includes Dzud which is a cold-season disaster in which anomalous climatic (i.e., heavy snow and severe cold) and/or land-surface (snow/ ice cover and lack of pasture) conditions lead to reduced accessibility and/or availability of forage/pastures, and ultimately to high livestock mortality during winter–spring. This page also contains content on Blizzard which is a severe snow storm characterised by poor visibility, usually occurring at high-latitude and in mountainous regions.

Vulnerability

Human health impacts from cold waves include mortality from ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease both of which increase in cold weather.

Living in a cold bouse can affect health at any age, not just in old age, for a variety of reasons. Although the extra deaths in elderly people are caused mainly by cardiovascular and respiratory disease, far greater numbers have minor ailments that lead to a huge burden of disease, costs to the health system, and misery.

Compared with those who live in a warmer house, respiratory problems are roughly doubled in childre, arthrities and rheumatism increase, and mental hearlth can be impaired at any age. Adolescents who live in a cold house have a five-fold increaser risk of multiple health problems (Dear and McMichael, 2011).

Risk reduction measures

To reduce impacts related to cold waves, countries have used national alerting parameters for cold wave warning or cold weather plans which help prevent major avoidable effects on health (HIP, 2021).

Latest Cold Wave additions in the Knowledge Base

Cover
Documents and publications
This study provides an overview of subseasonal predictability for case studies of some of the most prominent extreme events across the globe using the ECMWF S2S prediction system.
Research briefs
A new study looks at environmental impact over five decades on 10 economic sectors in 48 U.S. states, and concludes that cold and wet weather compared to historical norms have greater negative economic effects than hot and dry weather in certain sectors.
PhysOrg, Omicron Technology Ltd
Research briefs
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory studied the 2021 Texas cold wave from another angle: how Texas and other parts of the country can improve power system planning and electricity market operations.
Argonne National Laboratory
Farmers working on a foggy field in northern Bangladesh
Update
Cold waves are an overlooked disaster, with few humanitarian agencies acting to tackle these impacts. Consultations indicated that much more could be done to reduce the vulnerability of those most at risk – including acting ahead of a forecast cold wave.
Anticipation Hub
Research briefs
A new study challenges a commonly accepted explanation that a "sudden stratospheric warming" caused the unusually cold weather over the U.S. early last year, a view which was widely reported in the media and discussed among scientists at the time.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Cover
Documents and publications
This paper aimed to estimate the association between cold spells and cause-specific mortality and to evaluate the mortality burden in China.
Update
India has got its first climate vulnerability atlas, based on 14 extreme weather events and the risks they pose to the local population, livelihoods and economy of each district.
Times of India, the
This image shows the first page of the publication.
Documents and publications
Spatio-temporal mapping of climatic and biological disaster outbreak in India has been undertaken using historical data and scientific tools to explore options to support for relief, recovery, resilience, and adaptation.
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