Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Compound Dry Hot Stress Events in Trabzon Province

The frequency and severity of meteorological extremes have increased under climate change conditions. In particular, compound dry hot events caused by the simultaneous occurrence of low precipitation, high temperature, and low relative humidity create significant pressure on hydroclimatic systems. In this study, the spatiotemporal characteristics of compound dry hot stress events were investigated using meteorological stations in Trabzon Province. Monthly precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity data covering the 2012-2025 period were utilized. Compound stress months were identified based on precipitation values below the 25th percentile, temperature values above the 75th percentile, and relative humidity values below the 25th percentile. For the identified compound events, duration, severity, intensity, and peak stress parameters were calculated. In addition, a 90th percentile based rare event frequency analysis was performed to evaluate rare compound event behavior. The SPI-1 benchmark comparison showed that 103 months were jointly detected by both approaches, whereas 46 months were identified only by the compound stress framework. The results indicated that although Trabzon exhibits humid climate characteristics, significant spatial differences exist among the stations in terms of compound stress behavior. Marked differences were observed among the stations in terms of event frequency, duration, severity, and intensity. Higher elevation stations generally exhibited greater compound stress severity and persistence. Rare compound event analysis revealed episodic stress behavior with high severity values at several stations. The findings demonstrate that compound meteorological stress structures may develop even in humid regions and exhibit considerable spatial variability.