RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 On the precursor environments to mountain lee wave clouds in central Iberia under CMIP6 projections A1 Díaz Fernández, Javier A1 Calvo Sancho, Carlos A1 Bolgiani, Pedro A1 González Alemán, Juan Jesús A1 Farrán Martín, José Ignacio A1 Sastre Marugán, Mariano A1 Martín Pérez, María Luisa K1 Mountain waves K1 Montañas - España K1 Meteorology K1 Global climate models K1 Climatology K1 Clima - Cambios - España K1 Winds K1 Vientos - España K1 España - Clima K1 Atmospheric sciences K1 2509 Meteorología K1 2502 Climatología K1 2501 Ciencias de la Atmósfera AB Mountain lee waves present significant hazards to aviation, often inducing turbulence and aircraft icing. The current study focuses on understanding the potential impact of global climate change on the precursor environments to mountain lee wave cloud episodes over central Iberia. We examine the suitability of several Global Climate Models (GCMs) from CMIP6 in predicting these environments using the ERA5 reanalysis as a benchmark for performance. The dataset is divided into two periods: historical data (2001–2014) and projections for the SSP5–8.5 future climate scenario (2015–2100). The variations and trends in precursor environments between historical data and future climate scenarios are exposed, with a particular focus on the expansion of the Azores High towards the Iberian Peninsula, resulting in increased zonal winds throughout the Iberian Peninsula in the future. However, the increase in zonal wind is insufficient to modify the wind pattern, so future mountain lee wave cloud events will not vary significantly. The relative humidity trends reveal no significant changes. Moreover, the risk of icing precursor environments connected with mountain lee wave clouds is expected to decrease in the future, due to rising temperatures. Our results highlight that the EC-EARTH3 GCM reveals the closest alignment with ERA5 data, and statistically significant differences between the historical and future climate scenario periods are presented, making EC-EARTH3 a robust candidate for conducting future studies on the precursor environments to mountain lee wave cloud events. PB MDPI SN 2073-4433 YR 2024 FD 2024 LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/67332 UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/67332 LA eng NO Atmosphere, 2024, Vol. 15, Nº. 1, 128 NO Producción Científica DS UVaDOC RD 17-jun-2024