CLIVAR-SPAIN CONTRIBUTIONS: The unprecedented character of the 2003 summer heat wave over the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula

al. (2006; 2007a) and for the recent years we have updated the data from AEMET sources with running a primary quality control and we are doing now the re-homogenization. • The 2003 daily Tx and Tn observed values have been compared with their corresponding long-term daily averages and the 90th, 95th and 98th percentiles calculated for the whole period 1900-2007 at each location, in order to initially define the warm episodes that characterised the 2003 summer and assess their departures from the long-term averages and upper percentiles. • Regional and local Tx and Tn summer anomaly (wrt 1961-1990) values were calculated for placing the 2003 summer averages in the longer historical context. • The frequency distribution of monthly and seasonal Tm averages was examined. • The persistence of the heat wave was addressed by calculating and examining 4 temperature extreme indices: the number of days with Tx and Tn above the 90th percentile (warm days and nights, respectively) and an adapted Warm Spell Duration Index (WSDI) applied to both Tx and Tn series for single stations