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Heat Warnings in Switzerland: Reassessing the Choice of the Current Heat Stress Index

Author

Listed:
  • Annkatrin Burgstall

    (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, 8058 Zurich Airport, Switzerland)

  • Ana Casanueva

    (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, 8058 Zurich Airport, Switzerland
    Meteorology Group, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain)

  • Sven Kotlarski

    (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, 8058 Zurich Airport, Switzerland)

  • Cornelia Schwierz

    (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, 8058 Zurich Airport, Switzerland)

Abstract

High temperatures lead to heat-related human stress and an increased mortality risk. To quantify heat discomfort and the relevant dangers, heat stress indices combine different meteorological variables such as temperature, relative humidity, radiation and wind speed. In this paper, a set of widely-used heat stress indices is analyzed and compared to the heat index currently used to issue official heat warnings in Switzerland, considering 28 Swiss weather stations for the years 1981–2017. We investigate how well warnings based on the heat index match warning days and warning periods that are calculated from alternative heat stress indices. The latter might allow for more flexibility in terms of specific warning demands and impact-based warnings. It is shown that the percentage of alternative warnings that match the official warnings varies among indices. Considering the heat index as reference, the simplified wet bulb globe temperature performs well and has some further advantages such as no lower bound and allowing for the calculation of climatological values. Yet, other indices (e.g., with higher dependencies on humidity) can have some added value, too. Thus, regardless of the performance in terms of matches, the optimal index to use strongly depends on the purpose of the warning.

Suggested Citation

  • Annkatrin Burgstall & Ana Casanueva & Sven Kotlarski & Cornelia Schwierz, 2019. "Heat Warnings in Switzerland: Reassessing the Choice of the Current Heat Stress Index," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-19, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:15:p:2684-:d:252211
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karin Lundgren Kownacki & Chuansi Gao & Kalev Kuklane & Aneta Wierzbicka, 2019. "Heat Stress in Indoor Environments of Scandinavian Urban Areas: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Marco Morabito & Alessandro Messeri & Pascal Noti & Ana Casanueva & Alfonso Crisci & Sven Kotlarski & Simone Orlandini & Cornelia Schwierz & Christoph Spirig & Boris R.M. Kingma & Andreas D. Flouris &, 2019. "An Occupational Heat–Health Warning System for Europe: The HEAT-SHIELD Platform," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-21, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ana Casanueva & Annkatrin Burgstall & Sven Kotlarski & Alessandro Messeri & Marco Morabito & Andreas D. Flouris & Lars Nybo & Christoph Spirig & Cornelia Schwierz, 2019. "Overview of Existing Heat-Health Warning Systems in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Daniele Grifoni & Alessandro Messeri & Alfonso Crisci & Michela Bonafede & Francesco Pasi & Bernardo Gozzini & Simone Orlandini & Alessandro Marinaccio & Riccardo Mari & Marco Morabito & on behalf of , 2021. "Performances of Limited Area Models for the WORKLIMATE Heat–Health Warning System to Protect Worker’s Health and Productivity in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-20, September.
    3. Shih-Chun Candice Lung & Jou-Chen Joy Yeh & Jing-Shiang Hwang, 2021. "Selecting Thresholds of Heat-Warning Systems with Substantial Enhancement of Essential Population Health Outcomes for Facilitating Implementation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Jakob Petersson & Kalev Kuklane & Chuansi Gao, 2019. "Is There a Need to Integrate Human Thermal Models with Weather Forecasts to Predict Thermal Stress?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-18, November.

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