New evidence for the role of the North Sea - Caspian Pattern on the temperature and precipitation regimes in continental Central Turkey

Monthly mean temperatures and monthly precipitation totals at six stations from the Cappadocian sub-region in the continental Central Anatolia region of Turkey were analysed in order to detect the response of the variability in the Cappadocian climate to the variability of the North Sea - Caspian Pattern Index (NCPI). Most of this region is classified as semi-arid according to various climate classifications. Time series of the NCPI for the period 1958-1998, enabled each month from October to April to be classified as belonging to the negative phase NCP(-), positive phase NCP(+) or neutral conditions. Monthly temperature and precipitation series for each station were analysed separately for both phases. Temperatures during NCP(-) were found to be considerably higher than during NCP(+). These results confirm previous results regarding the role of the NCP in controlling the temperature regime in that region. No significant differences were found in precipitation totals between the two phases, but major differences were identified in their spatial structure.