The Variation of Extreme Values in the Precipitation and Wind Speed During 56 Years in Korea

56년간 한반도 강수 및 풍속의 극값 변화

This study investigates a long-term variation of the annual extreme value for the instantaneous wind speed and the daily precipitation during 56 years (1951-2006) in Korea. Results show that there is a uptrend for both wind and precipitation extreme records, although regional trends are different from overall pattern in some places, particularly for wind speed. The estimated linear trends are 230 mm/56 yr in the daily precipitation and $15ms^{-1}$/56 yr in the maximum instantaneous wind speed. For precipitation, other indexes such as total annual precipitation, the number of extreme precipitation event, and precipitation intensity have dramatically increased as well, while there has been a clear downtrend for the number of strong wind events (> $14ms^{-1}$). It is found that the minimum surface pressure recorded during typhoon attacks in Korea tends to be decreasing, about 10 hPa/56 yr. This partly explains why the extreme values in the precipitation are increasing in Korea.