Relations between atmospheric circulation and precipitation in Belgium

The objective Lamb circulation type (CT) classification method, based on the strength, direction and vorticity of the geostrophic flow, is applied to Belgium. Eleven different large-scale synoptic circulation patterns are derived on a daily scale for the period 1962 and 1999. The circulation patterns are subsequently related to precipitation amount and occurrence for six stations characterising different regions in Belgium, namely coastal, flat and hilly areas. Based on precipitation occurrence and intensity, five wet classes are defined, which are responsible for 83% of the total precipitation amount. It is shown that a regression model based on CT as predictors represents precipitation variability better in winter and autumn than in spring and summer. On the monthly scale and in winter, CTs explain 60.3% of the precipitation variability.