VARIABILITY OF THE MAXIMUM AIR TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 1961 AND 2018 AT ARAD, ROMANIA

The paper presents the analysis of the temporal variability and the linear trend of the annual and monthly maximum air temperature, of the variability of the decennial maximum air temperature, of the annual and monthly number of summer days and tropical days, as well as the linear trend of the annual number of these days. For this purpose, the meteorological data on the daily, monthly and annual maximum air temperature were used, from the Arad weather station, on the period 1961-2018. The result was that the absolute maximum air temperature was 40.8°C in Arad and was recorded on 5th August, 2017. The linear trend of the annual maximum temperature was upward. We notice the increase of the values of annual maximum temperature starting with the year 1988, the increase being even more pronounced since 2000. The decennial maximum temperature increased from the 2nd decade to the 6th decade by 4°C. The linear trends of the monthly maximum air temperature, for all 12 months of the year, were upward. The most pronounced increase in the monthly maximum temperatures occurred, in the last years, in the summer months, in May and in the winter months. The annual number of summer and tropical days has increased greatly since 1992. During the period 1992-2018, the summer season extended by 15 days, on average. In the last 10 years, the summer season extended by 21 days, on average. The linear trends of the annual number of summer and tropical days are upward, the increase of the number of tropical days being more pronounced than that of the summer days.