scholarly journals Correction to “Interannual variability of snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, United States: Examples from two alpine watersheds”

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Jepsen ◽  
Noah P. Molotch ◽  
Mark W. Williams ◽  
Karl E. Rittger ◽  
James O. Sickman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Alpine Watersheds

Interannual variability of snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, United States: Examples from two alpine watersheds

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Jepsen ◽  
Noah P. Molotch ◽  
Mark W. Williams ◽  
Karl E. Rittger ◽  
James O. Sickman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Alpine Watersheds

Mountain Climates of North America

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. David Whiteman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Coast Range ◽  
Alaska Range ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
The Pacific

The basic climatic characteristics of the major mountain ranges in the United States—the Appalachians, the Coast Range, the Alaska Range, the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada, and the Rocky Mountains—can be described in terms of the four factors discussed in chapter 1. The mountains of North America extend latitudinally all the way from the Arctic Circle (66.5°N) to the tropic of Cancer (23.5°N) (figure 2.1). There are significant differences in day length and angle of solar radiation over this latitude belt that result in large seasonal and diurnal differences in the weather from north to south. Elevations in the contiguous United States extend from below sea level at Death Valley to over 14,000 ft (4270 m) in the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada, and the Rocky Mountains. Several prominent peaks along the Coast Range in Alaska and Canada (e.g., Mount St. Elias and Mount Logan) reach elevations above 18,000 ft (5486 m). Denali (20,320 ft or 6194 m) in the Alaska Range is the highest peak in North America. The highest peak in the Canadian Rockies is Mt. Robson, with an elevation of 12,972 ft (3954 m). The climates of the Coast Range, the Cascade Range, and the Sierra Nevada, all near the Pacific Ocean, are primarily maritime. The Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States are subject to a maritime influence from the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, but they are also affected by the prevailing westerly winds that bring continental climatic conditions. Only the climate of the Rocky Mountains, far from both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is primarily continental. Each of the mountain ranges is influenced by regional circulations. For example, the Appalachians are exposed to the warm, moist winds brought northward by the Bermuda-Azores High and to the influence of the Gulf Stream. Similarly, the Coast Range feels the impact of the Pacific High, the Aleutian low, and the Japanese Current. A mountain range, depending on its size, shape, orientation, and location relative to air mass source regions, can itself affect the regional climate by acting as a barrier to regional flows.

scholarly journals Interannual Variability of the North American Cold Air Stream and Associated Synoptic Circulations

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (23) ◽  
pp. 9575-9590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Kanno ◽  
John E. Walsh ◽  
Toshiki Iwasaki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation

In boreal winter, the cold air mass (CAM) flux of air with a potential temperature below 280 K forms climatological mean CAM streams in East Asia and North America (NA). This study diagnoses the interannual variability of the NA stream by an analysis of the CAM flux across 60°N between Greenland and the Rocky Mountains. The first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) represents the variations in intensity of the NA stream. When the first principal component (PC1) is highly positive, the central part of the NA stream is intensified, with cold anomalies east of the Rocky Mountains. At the same time, a stratospheric polar vortex tends to split or displace toward NA. PC1 is highly correlated with the tropical Northern Hemisphere pattern, implying that this pattern is associated with the intensity of the NA stream. The second EOF shows a longitudinal shift of the NA stream toward Greenland or the Rocky Mountains. A highly negative PC2 results in a cold anomaly from western Canada to the Midwestern United States and anomalous heavy snowfall in the northeastern United States. PC2 is positively correlated with the Arctic Oscillation, which suggests that the longitudinal position of the NA stream varies with the Arctic Oscillation. These results illustrate how the intensity and location of cold air outbreaks vary with large-scale modes of atmospheric variability, with corresponding implications for the predictability of winter severity in NA.

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