Physiographically sensitive mapping of climatological temperature and precipitation across the conterminous United States

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (15) ◽  
pp. 2031-2064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Daly ◽  
Michael Halbleib ◽  
Joseph I. Smith ◽  
Wayne P. Gibson ◽  
Matthew K. Doggett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

scholarly journals Seasonal and Ephemeral Snowpacks of the Conterminous United States

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Hatchett
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
At Risk ◽  
New England ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Precipitation Estimates

Snowpack seasonality in the conterminous United States (U.S.) is examined using a recently-released daily, 4 km spatial resolution gridded snow water equivalent and snow depth product developed by assimilating station-based observations and gridded temperature and precipitation estimates from PRISM. Seasonal snowpacks for the period spanning water years 1982–2017 were calculated using two established methods: (1) the classic Sturm approach that requires 60 days of snow cover with a peak depth >50 cm and (2) the snow seasonality metric (SSM) that only requires 60 days of continuous snow cover to define seasonal snow. The latter approach yields continuous values from −1 to +1, where −1 (+1) indicates an ephemeral (seasonal) snowpack. The SSM approach is novel in its ability to identify both seasonal and ephemeral snowpacks. Both approaches identify seasonal snowpacks in western U.S. mountains and the northern central and eastern U.S. The SSM approach identifies greater areas of seasonal snowpacks compared to the Sturm method, particularly in the Upper Midwest, New England, and the Intermountain West. This is a result of the relaxed depth constraint compared to the Sturm approach. Ephemeral snowpacks exist throughout lower elevation regions of the western U.S. and across a broad longitudinal swath centered near 35° N spanning the lee of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast. Because it lacks a depth constraint, the SSM approach may inform the location of shallow but long-duration snowpacks at risk of transitioning to ephemeral snowpacks with climatic change. A case study in Oregon during an extreme snow drought year (2014/2015) highlights seasonal to ephemeral snowpack transitions. Aggregating seasonal and ephemeral snowpacks to the HUC-8 watershed level in the western U.S. demonstrates the majority of watersheds are at risk of losing seasonal snow.

scholarly journals Interactions between Climate Change and Complex Topography Drive Observed Streamflow Changes in the Colorado River Basin

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1637-1650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt C. Solander ◽  
Katrina E. Bennett ◽  
Sean W. Fleming ◽  
David S. Gutzler ◽  
Emily M. Hopkins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Strong Relation ◽  
High Elevations

Abstract The Colorado River basin (CRB) is one of the most important watersheds for energy, water, and food security in the United States. CRB water supports 15% of U.S. food production, more than 50 GW of electricity capacity, and one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. Energy–water–food nexus impacts from climate change are projected to increase in the CRB. These include a higher incidence of extreme events, widespread snow-to-rain regime shifts, and a higher frequency and magnitude of climate-driven disturbances. Here, we empirically show how the historical annual streamflow maximum and hydrograph centroid timing relate to temperature, precipitation, and snow. In addition, we show how these hydroclimatic relationships vary with elevation and how the elevation dependence has changed over this historical observational record. We find temperature and precipitation have a relatively weak relation (|r| < 0.3) to interannual variations in streamflow timing and extremes at low elevations (<1500 m), but a relatively strong relation (|r| > 0.5) at high elevations (>2300 m) where more snow occurs in the CRB. The threshold elevation where this relationship is strongest (|r| > 0.5) is moving uphill at a rate of up to 4.8 m yr−1 (p = 0.11) and 6.1 m yr−1 (p = 0.01) for temperature and precipitation, respectively. Based on these findings, we hypothesize where warming and precipitation-related streamflow changes are likely to be most severe using a watershed-scale vulnerability map to prioritize areas for further research and to inform energy, water, and food resource management in the CRB.

Progress in Monthly Climate Forecasting with a Physical Model

1981 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 1666-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Adem ◽  
William L. Donn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Physical Model ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Surface Albedo ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Climate Forecasting ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Ice Conditions

A long-range forecasting technique, based on a physical model that emphasizes thermodynamics, is applied to the prediction of anomalies of temperature and precipitation for the Northern Hemisphere. Monthly forecasts are initialized with the sea surface temperature, 700 mb temperature and surface albedo, including variable snow-ice conditions. Application to the hot spell and drought in the summer of 1980 for the contiguous United States shows very encouraging skill when verified for the standard 100-station NOAA grid.

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