Temperature and precipitation reconstruction in southern Portugal during the late Maunder Minimum (AD 1675-1715)

This paper discusses the research carried out to check the climatic charact eristics of the late Maunder Minimum (LMM) (AD 1675-1715) in the southweste rn part of the Iberian Peninsula and as an aid towards pressure patterns re construction in the NE Atlantic and Europe. Documentary evidence reveals th at interannual precipitation variability was similar to the present one, al though some very severe dry periods occurred (particularly one in 1694). On the other hand, during the LMM there was a higher percentage of cold winte r months, some of them with snowfall. A brief comparison is made with other areas From the Mediterranean. The relationships between weather similariti es and differences for particular months is analysed in the light of the re constructed synoptical patterns, and further research into historical clima tic change of southern Europe is suggested.