Historical extreme winters of Istanbul: the factors that contributed to severe winters during the 20th and 21st centuries

In this study, the analysis of the extreme winters that occurred in Istanbul between the years 401-2022 was carried out. Until the 21st century, the extremely low temperatures and heavy snowfalls in the province sometimes lasted for days, sometimes for weeks, which adversely affected daily life and especially transportation. In the 21st century, snow depths measured between half a metre and 1 metre have been effective rather than low temperatures. By examining the extreme events that took place between the 18th and 21st centuries as reference, the statistics for the future occurrence of these events until 2050 and 2100 are presented. The most important factor in the occurrence of four events in only 22 years in the 21st century has been the positive trend in sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies.