Projected Aridity Dynamics Across the Western Balkans Using a Multi-Model CMIP6 Ensemble and Short-Term AI Benchmarking

The Western Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro) occupy a transitional climatic position between the Mediterranean hotspot and the continental Balkan interior within Southeast Europe, yet multi-country, multi-model, station-resolved assessments of regional aridification remain scarce. We combined quality-controlled monthly temperature and precipitation records from 100 stations across Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro (1961–2020) with bias-corrected projections from a five-member CMIP6 ensemble (EC-Earth3, MPI-ESM1-2-HR, CNRM-CM6-1, MRI-ESM2-0, IPSL-CM6A-LR) under four SSP scenarios to 2100 and benchmarked these projections against five short-term forecasting baselines on a held-out 2019–2020 period. Aridity was quantified using the Ellenberg Climate Quotient (EQ) and De Martonne Index. Results: Ninety-eight of 100 stations showed significant warming (1961–2020, p < 0.05), and 26 showed significant aridification. Ensemble mean end-of-century EQ change ranged from −6.9% (SSP1-2.6) to +44.6% (SSP5-8.5, Montenegro), with the largest absolute increases in the Pannonian lowlands; inter-model uncertainty exceeded inter-scenario uncertainty by roughly a factor of two. Deep learning forecasters (TFT, N-HiTS) outperformed bias-corrected CMIP6 output for short-term, station-scale temperature forecasting, while a simple climatological baseline remained competitive for precipitation. CMIP6 projections and AI forecasting are complementary: multi-model ensembles remain indispensable for long-term, scenario-conditioned planning, while AI offers superior near-term predictive skill for operational decisions.