scholarly journals Annual Volume and Area Variations in Tropical Cyclone Rainfall over the Eastern United States

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (16) ◽  
pp. 4363-4374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo C. Nogueira ◽  
Barry D. Keim

Abstract This paper examines tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall in the eastern United States from the perspective of documenting accumulated annual water volumes and areas of the precipitation. Volume is a value that merges both rainfall depth and rainfall area into a single metric for each year that can be directly compared between individual years. Area represents the total land area affected by tropical rains. These TC rainfall metrics were then compared to the ENSO and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO). Time series of annual TC water volumes show an annual average of 107 km3. The maximum volume was produced in 1985 with 405.8 km3, driven by Hurricanes Bob, Claudette, Danny, Elena, Gloria, Henri, Juan, and Kate as well as by Tropical Storms Henri and Isabel. The lowest TC volume occurred in 1978 with 8.9 km3. ENSO phases did not show any statistical correlation with TC frequency in the eastern United States. However, AMO showed a significant correlation with volume and the number of storms affecting the region. TC rainfall volume and area in the eastern United States showed a strong correlation. However, there are exceptions, whereby 1985 stands out as an exceptional volume year though the area affected is not as impressive. In contrast, 1979 is an example when TCs covered a large area with a corresponding small rainfall volume, in part because of the rapid forward movement of the storms, for example, Hurricanes David and Frederic. Since 1995, TCs have become more numerous, producing larger volumes and affecting larger areas.

HortScience ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1643-1647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Renee Warmund ◽  
Patrick Guinan ◽  
Gina Fernandez

An unprecedented freeze occurred between 4 and 10 Apr. 2007, causing extensive crop loss across a large area of the United States. This event occurred late in the spring and temperatures were unusually low for an extended period. Low-temperature injury on small fruit plants was reported in 21 states. Missouri and Arkansas experienced the highest estimated percentages of crop loss of grape (Vitis spp.), strawberry (Fragraria ×ananassa Duch.), blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), and blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson). Kentucky and Tennessee also reported high percentages of small fruit crop loss. Temperatures preceding the freeze event in the affected region were unusually warm and many of the crops were at a more advanced stage of growth than they would have been under more usual conditions. Although frost/freeze warnings were issued, the terminology used by different weather forecasters was inconsistent. Growers used various cold protection methods, but these were generally ineffective because of the stage of plant development and/or the advective nature of the freeze. Actual grape and blueberry crop losses may not be known for several years because of secondary injury to plant tissues from various pathogens.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1803-1819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua C. Bregy ◽  
Justin T. Maxwell ◽  
Scott M. Robeson ◽  
Jason T. Ortegren ◽  
Peter T. Soulé ◽  
...  

AbstractTropical cyclones (TCs) are an important source of precipitation for much of the eastern United States. However, our understanding of the spatiotemporal variability of tropical cyclone precipitation (TCP) and the connections to large-scale atmospheric circulation is limited by irregularly distributed rain gauges and short records of satellite measurements. To address this, we developed a new gridded (0.25° × 0.25°) publicly available dataset of TCP (1948–2015; Tropical Cyclone Precipitation Dataset, or TCPDat) using TC tracks to identify TCP within an existing gridded precipitation dataset. TCPDat was used to characterize total June–November TCP and percentage contribution to total June–November precipitation. TCP totals and contributions had maxima on the Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas coasts, substantially decreasing farther inland at rates of approximately 6.2–6.7 mm km−1. Few statistically significant trends were discovered in either TCP totals or percentage contribution. TCP is positively related to an index of the position and strength of the western flank of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH), with the strongest correlations concentrated in the southeastern United States. Weaker inverse correlations between TCP and El Niño–Southern Oscillation are seen throughout the study site. Ultimately, spatial variations of TCP are more closely linked to variations in the NASH flank position or strength than to the ENSO index. The TCP dataset developed in this study is an important step in understanding hurricane–climate interactions and the impacts of TCs on communities, water resources, and ecosystems in the eastern United States.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (18) ◽  
pp. 7269-7286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maofeng Liu ◽  
Gabriel A. Vecchi ◽  
James A. Smith ◽  
Hiroyuki Murakami

Abstract Landfalling–tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall is an important element of inland flood hazards in the eastern United States. The projection of landfalling-TC rainfall under anthropogenic warming provides insight into future flood risks. This study examines the frequency of landfalling TCs and associated rainfall using the GFDL Forecast-Oriented Low Ocean Resolution (FLOR) climate model through comparisons with observed TC track and rainfall over the July–November 1979–2005 seasons. The projection of landfalling-TC frequency and rainfall under the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario for the late twenty-first century is explored, including an assessment of the impacts of extratropical transition (ET). In most regions of the southeastern United States, competition between increased storm rain rate and decreased storm frequency dominates the change of annual TC rainfall, and rainfall from ET and non-ET storms. In the northeastern United States, a prominent feature is the striking increase of ET-storm frequency but with tropical characteristics (i.e., prior to the ET phase), a key element of increased rainfall. The storm-centered rainfall composite analyses show the greatest increase at a radius of a few hundred kilometers from the storm centers. Over both ocean and land, the increase of rainfall within 500 km from the storm center exceeds the Clausius–Clapeyron scaling for TC-phase storms. Similar results are found in the front-left quadrant of ET-phase storms. Future work involving explorations of multiple models (e.g., higher atmospheric resolution version of the FLOR model) for TC-rainfall projection is expected to add more robustness to projection results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 269-287
Author(s):  
WC Thaxton ◽  
JC Taylor ◽  
RG Asch

As the effects of climate change become more pronounced, variation in the direction and magnitude of shifts in species occurrence in space and time may disrupt interspecific interactions in ecological communities. In this study, we examined how the fall and winter ichthyoplankton community in the Newport River Estuary located inshore of Pamlico Sound in the southeastern United States has responded to environmental variability over the last 27 yr. We relate the timing of estuarine ingress of 10 larval fish species to changes in sea surface temperature (SST), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, wind strength and phenology, and tidal height. We also examined whether any species exhibited trends in ingress phenology over the last 3 decades. Species varied in the magnitude of their responses to all of the environmental variables studied, but most shared a common direction of change. SST and northerly wind strength had the largest impact on estuarine ingress phenology, with most species ingressing earlier during warm years and delaying ingress during years with strong northerly winds. As SST warms in the coming decades, the average date of ingress of some species (Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, pinfish Lagodon rhomboides) is projected to advance on the order of weeks to months, assuming temperatures do not exceed a threshold at which species can no longer respond through changes in phenology. These shifts in ingress could affect larval survival and growth since environmental conditions in the estuarine and pelagic nursery habitats of fishes also vary seasonally.


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