Hubert Valášek

Fluctuations of floods of the River Morava (Czech Republic) in the 1691- 2009 period: interactions of natural and anthropogenic factors

Abstract Floods from the middle part of the River Morava (eastern Czech Republic) are considered over the course of the past three centuries, the study being based on data derived from documentary evidence (1691–1880), measured peak water stages, Hk (1881–1920) and peak discharges, Qk (1916–2009), evaluated with respect to their N-year return period (HN and QN ). Changes in land use and water management (water reservoirs, channel modifications) are discussed, as are factors influencing runoff conditions in the Morava catchment. Decadal synthesis of flood series identifies the highest flood activity in the decades of 1911–1920 and 1961–1970 (11 floods each), 1831–1840, 1891–1900, 1901–1910 and 1931–1940 (10 floods each). Uncertainty in this series is related to some incompleteness of documentary data in the pre-1881 period. Very low flood frequency occurred in the 1990s–2000s, although the most disastrous floods were recorded in this particular period (July 1997 at Q 100 and March/April 2006 at Q 20–Q 50). Changes in flood frequency correspond partly to long-term changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. Citation Brázdil, R., Řezníčková, L., Valášek, H., Havlíček, M., Dobrovolný, P., Soukalová, E., Řehánek, T. & Skokanová, H. (2011) Fluctuations of floods of the River Morava (Czech Republic) in the 1691–2009 period: interactions of natural and anthropogenic factors. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(3), 468–485.

Climate in the Czech Lands during the 1780s in Light of the Daily Weather Records of Parson Karel Bernard Hein of Hodonice (Southwestern Moravia): Comparison of Documentary and Instrumental Data

Visual daily meteorological observations are analysed according to the diary of parson Karel Bernard Hein of Hodonice near Znojmo (south-western Moravia), carried out from 1 February 1780 to 5 October 1789. Records written in Latin are a complement of the description of events of everyday life. They allow characterisation of temperature and precipitation patterns of the individual months and frequencies of occurrence of selected weather phenomena (thunderstorm, fog). On the basis of monthly temperature and precipitation indices derived from the interpretation of Heins reports, a quantitative interpretation of temperatures and precipitation is performed for the meteorological station Kuchařovice in the 1780s with respectto the reference period 1961–2000. Heins records are further compared withregular meteorological observations of the station Prague-Klementinum and in the broader European context with data from Austria, Germany and Switzerland. From the comparison, a good agreement is evident according to documentary evidence and instrumental measurements. Heins records are, together with further written sources and meteorological measurements, utilised for describing extreme periods during the 1780s in the Czech Lands (from the view of measurements of the station Prague-Klementinum): the warm summer of 1783, the hard winter of 1783/84, the hitherto coldest March and spring of 1785, the hitherto coldest autumn of 1786, and the hard winter of 1788/89 with so far the coldest December.

Documentary Evidence of an Economic Character as a Source for the Study of Meteorological and Hydrological Extremes and their Impacts on Human Activities

Abstract This paper deals with documentary evidence of an economic character as a proxy for direct study of meteorological and hydrological extremes. Taxation records and reports of those who administrated domains and estates are described with respect to information about meteorological and hydrological extremes. Based on data from eight domains or estates from Moravia (in the Czech Republic), frequency series of floods and convective storms (including hailstorms) were developed for the period 1650–1849. One example of disastrous weather, which took place on 10 August 1694 in the Pernštejn domain, is used to demonstrate the potential for such studies of the intensity of extremes and their impact on human activities. The importance of economic evidence in the instrumental period is shown through tax rebate data contingent upon hailstorm damage in Moravia (1896–1906). The benefits of employing documentary economic evidence for historical climatology and the study of the impact of meteorological and hydrological extremes on human activities are discussed.

Windstorm of the eighteenth century in the Czech Lands: course,extent, impacts

This paper addresses the course, extent, and impacts of a windstorm that occurred on 20–21 December 1740, in the Czech Lands. The analysis is based on documentary data included in chronicles, “books of memory”, memoirs, damage reports, urbaria, and cadastral records, as well as secondary sources. The windstorm started with a thunderstorm in the afternoon of 20 December, continued during the night, and was followed by a flood. It also appeared in documentary data from Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony, Silesia, Slovakia, and Hungary. The event may be related to a cyclone north-west of the Czech territory moving to the east with an intense western flow over central Europe. The storm did great material damage to houses, farm buildings, churches, and forests and is recorded in various documentary sources for 85 places in the Czech Lands. The windstorm had a significant influence on the development of local plantation forestry (discussed in greater detail). Judging by territorial extent and damage done, this windstorm, compared to other similar events, has been classified as “the windstorm of the eighteenth century” in the Czech Lands. This contribution demonstrates the potential of documentary evidence for the elucidation of heavy windstorms in the pre-instrumental period in Europe.

Hydrological and meteorological extremes derived from taxation records: the estates of Brtnice, Třebíč and Velké Meziříčí, 1706–1849

Abstract This paper addresses the hydrological and meteorological extremes that may be deduced from the taxation records of the estates of Brtnice, Třebíč and Velké Meziříčí, all in the Moravian-Bohemian Highlands of the Czech Republic, for the years 1706–1849. At that time, damage to agricultural crops constituted grounds for tax remission for individual farmers and landowners. Where it survives, the relevant administrative documentation generally includes a statement from the applicant, a report by the official commission tasked with checking the contents of it, and any decisions made by taxation authorities at regional and “land” level (the Jihlava regional office and the Moravian Land Administration (“Gubernium”) respectively). Data extracted may include the type of event, dating, places of occurrence and damage done. The chronology of hydrological and meteorological extremes (torrential rain, flash flood, flood, hailstorm, lightning, frost) covers the period 1706–1849, but only four events are evident before 1748 and there is a gap in records between 1757 and 1789. Extremes are analysed from a spatio-temporal point of view. A total of 97 extreme events (171 extremes of particular type) were identified for the region studied. Torrential rain, hailstorm and flash flood were the major devastating phenomena, and occurred mainly from May to August. Torrential rain and hailstorm are clearly attributable to thunderstorms with very intense convection. Five outstanding events and their impacts upon individual farmers are described in detail. The results are discussed with respect to uncertainties in the basic data and in the context of the Czech Lands, because only some of the extremes disclosed are known and confirmed by other documentary data. Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz Citation Dolák, L., Brázdil, R., and Valášek, H., 2013. Hydrological and meteorological extremes derived from taxation records: the estates of Brtnice, Třebíč and Velké Meziříčí, 1706–1849. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (8), 1620–1634.

Past locust outbreaks in the Czech Lands: do they indicate particular climatic patterns?

Outbreaks of locusts, probably Locusta migratoria, were once relatively frequent phenomena in Central Europe. Documentary evidence reaching back as far as the fourteenth century provides information about these events in the Czech Lands. The stages of morphological development of locusts are influenced by a number of natural conditions, including climate. The question remains as to the extent to which the occurrence of locusts may be attributed to particular weather/climatic patterns in a given year (period) in Central Europe. Available documentary sources recording locust outbreaks in the Czech Lands are presented. The chronology thus created shows their occurrence peaked in the seventeenth century, followed in severity by the eighteenth and sixteenth centuries. Some of the largest outbreaks recorded (1338, 1474–1475, 1542–1546, 1693, 1712 and 1748–1749) are analysed in detail. Seasonal temperature and precipitation patterns in Central Europe during the years in which the locust outbreaks took place show no particular climatic features compared with the years without them, with the exception of cooler and wetter springs and wetter summers.