Spatiotemporal Changes in Precipitation Extremes over Canada and Their Teleconnections to Large-Scale Climate Patterns

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Thian Yew Gan ◽  
Xuezhi Tan

Abstract In the past few decades, there have been more extreme climate events occurring worldwide, including Canada, which has also suffered from many extreme precipitation events. In this paper, trend analysis, probability distribution functions, principal component analysis, and wavelet analysis were used to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of extreme precipitation events of Canada. Ten extreme precipitation indices were calculated using long-term daily precipitation data (1950–2012) from 164 Canadian gauging stations. Several large-scale climate patterns such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), Pacific–North American (PNA), and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) were selected to analyze the relationships between extreme precipitation and climate indices. Convective available potential energy (CAPE), specific humidity, and surface temperature were employed to investigate potential causes of trends in extreme precipitation. The results reveal statistically significant positive trends for most extreme precipitation indices, which means that extreme precipitation of Canada has generally become more severe since the mid-twentieth century. The majority of indices display more increasing trends along the southern border of Canada while decreasing trends dominated the central Canadian Prairies. In addition, strong teleconnections are found between extreme precipitation and climate indices, but the effects of climate patterns differ from region to region. Furthermore, complex interactions of climate patterns with synoptic atmospheric circulations can also affect precipitation variability, and changes to the summer and winter extreme precipitation could be explained more by the thermodynamic impact and the combined thermodynamic and dynamic effects, respectively. The seasonal CAPE, specific humidity, and temperature are correlated to Canadian extreme precipitation, but the correlations are season dependent, which could be positive or negative.

2012 ◽  
Vol 573-574 ◽  
pp. 395-399
Author(s):  
Yong Wang ◽  
Yuan Yuan Ding ◽  
Qi Long Miao

Based on the daily precipitation data in Northeast China (NE China) from 1961 to 2010, six extreme precipitation indices (RX1day, Rx5day, R10mm, R20mm, R95T, and R99T) in NE China were calculated, and the temporal and spatial characteristics of extreme precipitation events were analyzed. The main results are summarized as follows: Except R99T, other extreme precipitation indicators all show the decreasing trend. All indicators are not significant. From the spatial distribution of extreme precipitation indicators, extreme precipitation indicators have different change situations in various regions, and the decreasing trends are dominant. This shows that the climate has become dry in NE China. It is important to forecast and reduce the climate induced flood risks and provide information for rational countermeasures.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shakti Suryavanshi ◽  
Nitin Joshi ◽  
Hardeep Kumar Maurya ◽  
Divya Gupta ◽  
Keshav Kumar Sharma

Abstract This study examines the pattern and trend of seasonal and annual precipitation along with extreme precipitation events in a data scare, south Asian country, Afghanistan. Seven extreme precipitation indices were considered based upon intensity, duration and frequency of precipitation events. The study revealed that precipitation pattern of Afghanistan is unevenly distributed at seasonal and yearly scales. Southern and Southwestern provinces remain significantly dry whereas, the Northern and Northeastern provinces receive comparatively higher precipitation. Spring and winter seasons bring about 80% of yearly precipitation in Afghanistan. However, a notable declining precipitation trend was observed in these two seasons. An increasing trend in precipitation was observed for the summer and autumn seasons, however; these seasons are the lean periods for precipitation. A declining annual precipitation trend was also revealed in many provinces of Afghanistan. Analysis of extreme precipitation indices reveals a general drier condition in Afghanistan. Large spatial variability was found in precipitation indices. In many provinces of Afghanistan, a significantly declining trends were observed in intensity-based (Rx1-day, RX5-day, SDII and R95p) and frequency-based (R10) precipitation indices. The duration-based precipitation indices (CDD and CWD) also infer a general drier climatic condition in Afghanistan. This study will assist the agriculture and allied sectors to take well-planned adaptive measures in dealing with the changing patterns of precipitation, and additionally, facilitating future studies for Afghanistan.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Dan Zhang ◽  
Wensheng Wang ◽  
Shuqi Liang ◽  
Shunjiu Wang

Climate extremes have attracted widespread attention for their threats to the natural environment and human society. Based on gauged daily precipitation from 1963 to 2016 in four subregions of the Jinsha River Basin (JRB), four extreme precipitation indices developed by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) were employed to assess the spatiotemporal variations of extreme precipitation events. Results show the following: (1) Max one-day precipitation amount (RX1day), max consecutive five-day precipitation amount (RX5day), precipitation on very wet days (R95p), and number of heavy precipitation days (R10mm) showed increasing trends in four subregions except for the decline of R10mm in the southeastern and RX5day in the midsouthern. Extreme precipitation has become more intense and frequent in most parts of the JRB. (2) In space, the four extreme precipitation indices increased from the northwest to the southeast. Temporal trends of extreme precipitation showed great spatial variability. It is notable that extreme precipitation increased apparently in higher elevation areas. (3) The abrupt change of extreme precipitation in the northwestern, midsouthern, and southeastern mainly appeared in the late 1990s and the 2000s. For the midnorthern, abrupt change mainly occurred in the late 1980s. This study is meaningful for regional climate change acquaintance and disaster prevention in the JRB.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3010
Author(s):  
Qingshan He ◽  
Jianping Yang ◽  
Hongju Chen ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Qin Ji ◽  
...  

Accurate estimates of extreme precipitation events play an important role in climate change studies and natural disaster risk assessments. This study aimed to evaluate the capability of the China Meteorological Forcing Dataset (CMFD), Asian Precipitation-Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources (APHRODITE), and Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) to detect the spatiotemporal patterns of extreme precipitation events over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) in China, from 1981 to 2014. Compared to the gauge-based precipitation dataset obtained from 101 stations across the region, 12 indices of extreme precipitation were employed and classified into three categories: fixed threshold, station-related threshold, and non-threshold indices. Correlation coefficient (CC), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and Kling–Gupta efficiency (KGE), were used to assess the accuracy of extreme precipitation estimation; indices including probability of detection (POD), false alarm ratio (FAR), and critical success index (CSI) were adopted to evaluate the ability of gridded products’ to detect rain occurrences. The results indicated that all three gridded datasets showed acceptable representation of the extreme precipitation events over the QTP. CMFD and APHRODITE tended to slightly underestimate extreme precipitation indices (except for consecutive wet days), whereas CHIRPS overestimated most indices. Overall, CMFD outperformed the other datasets for capturing the spatiotemporal pattern of most extreme precipitation indices over the QTP. Although CHIRPS had lower levels of accuracy, the generated data had a higher spatial resolution, and with correction, it may be considered for small-scale studies in future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (22) ◽  
pp. 9087-9105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lejiang Yu ◽  
Qinghua Yang ◽  
Timo Vihma ◽  
Svetlana Jagovkina ◽  
Jiping Liu ◽  
...  

Observed daily precipitation data were used to investigate the characteristics of precipitation at Antarctic Progress Station and synoptic patterns associated with extreme precipitation events during the period 2003–16. The annual precipitation, annual number of extreme precipitation events, and amount of precipitation during the extreme events have positive trends. The distribution of precipitation at Progress Station is heavily skewed with a long tail of extreme dry days and a high peak of extreme wet days. The synoptic pattern associated with extreme precipitation events is a dipole structure of negative and positive height anomalies to the west and east of Progress Station, respectively, resulting in water vapor advection to the station. For the first time, we apply self-organizing maps (SOMs) to examine thermodynamic and dynamic perspectives of trends in the frequency of occurrence of Antarctic extreme precipitation events. The changes in thermodynamic (noncirculation) processes explain 80% of the trend, followed by the changes in the interaction between thermodynamic and dynamic processes, which account for nearly 25% of the trend. The changes in dynamic processes make a negative (less than 5%) contribution to the trend. The positive trend in total column water vapor over the Southern Ocean explains the change of thermodynamic term.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Kopp ◽  
Pauline Rivoire ◽  
S. Mubashshir Ali ◽  
Yannick Barton ◽  
Olivia Martius

<p>Temporal clustering of extreme precipitation events on subseasonal time scales is a type of compound event, which can cause large precipitation accumulations and lead to floods. We present a novel count-based procedure to identify subseasonal clustering of extreme precipitation events. Furthermore, we introduce two metrics to characterise the frequency of subseasonal clustering episodes and their relevance for large precipitation accumulations. The advantage of this approach is that it does not require the investigated variable (here precipitation) to satisfy any specific statistical properties. Applying this methodology to the ERA5 reanalysis data set, we identify regions where subseasonal clustering of annual high precipitation percentiles occurs frequently and contributes substantially to large precipitation accumulations. Those regions are the east and northeast of the Asian continent (north of Yellow Sea, in the Chinese provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning; North and South Korea; Siberia and east of Mongolia), central Canada and south of California, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, and the north of Argentina and south of Bolivia. Our method is robust with respect to the parameters used to define the extreme events (the percentile threshold and the run length) and the length of the subseasonal time window (here 2 – 4 weeks). The procedure could also be used to identify temporal clustering of other variables (e.g. heat waves) and can be applied on different time scales (e.g. for drought years). <span>For a complementary study on the subseasonal clustering of European extreme precipitation events and its relationship to large-scale atmospheric drivers, please refer to Barton et al.</span></p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 1415-1428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imme Benedict ◽  
Karianne Ødemark ◽  
Thomas Nipen ◽  
Richard Moore

Abstract A climatology of extreme cold season precipitation events in Norway from 1979 to 2014 is presented, based on the 99th percentile of the 24-h accumulated precipitation. Three regions, termed north, west, and south are identified, each exhibiting a unique seasonal distribution. There is a proclivity for events to occur during the positive phase of the NAO. The result is statistically significant at the 95th percentile for the north and west regions. An overarching hypothesis of this work is that anomalous moisture flux, or so-called atmospheric rivers (ARs), are integral to extreme precipitation events during the Norwegian cold season. An objective analysis of the integrated vapor transport illustrates that more than 85% of the events are associated with ARs. An empirical orthogonal function and fuzzy cluster technique is used to identify the large-scale weather patterns conducive to the moisture flux and extreme precipitation. Five days before the event and for each of the three regions, two patterns are found. The first represents an intense, southward-shifted jet with a southwest–northeast orientation. The second identifies a weak, northward-shifted, zonal jet. As the event approaches, regional differences become more apparent. The distinctive flow pattern conducive to orographically enhanced precipitation emerges in the two clusters for each region. For the north and west regions, this entails primarily zonal flow impinging upon the south–north-orientated topography, the difference being the latitude of the strong flow. In contrast, the south region exhibits a significant southerly component to the flow.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 2115-2131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Chan ◽  
Elizabeth J. Kendon ◽  
Nigel Roberts ◽  
Stephen Blenkinsop ◽  
Hayley J. Fowler

Midlatitude extreme precipitation events are caused by well-understood meteorological drivers, such as vertical instability and low pressure systems. In principle, dynamical weather and climate models behave in the same way, although perhaps with the sensitivities to the drivers varying between models. Unlike parameterized convection models (PCMs), convection-permitting models (CPMs) are able to realistically capture subdaily extreme precipitation. CPMs are computationally expensive; being able to diagnose the occurrence of subdaily extreme precipitation from large-scale drivers, with sufficient skill, would allow effective targeting of CPM downscaling simulations. Here the regression relationships are quantified between the occurrence of extreme hourly precipitation events and vertical stability and circulation predictors in southern United Kingdom 1.5-km CPM and 12-km PCM present- and future-climate simulations. Overall, the large-scale predictors demonstrate skill in predicting the occurrence of extreme hourly events in both the 1.5- and 12-km simulations. For the present-climate simulations, extreme occurrences in the 12-km model are less sensitive to vertical stability than in the 1.5-km model, consistent with understanding the limitations of cumulus parameterization. In the future-climate simulations, the regression relationship is more similar between the two models, which may be understood from changes to the large-scale circulation patterns and land surface climate. Overall, regression analysis offers a promising avenue for targeting CPM simulations. The authors also outline which events would be missed by adopting such a targeted approach.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1307-1326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyu Zhao ◽  
Yi Deng ◽  
Robert X. Black

Abstract Regional patterns of extreme precipitation events occurring over the continental United States are identified via hierarchical cluster analysis of observed daily precipitation for the period 1950–2005. Six canonical extreme precipitation patterns (EPPs) are isolated for the boreal warm season and five for the cool season. The large-scale meteorological pattern (LMP) inducing each EPP is identified and used to create a “base function” for evaluating a climate model’s potential for accurately representing the different patterns of precipitation extremes. A parallel analysis of the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4), reveals that the CCSM4 successfully captures the main U.S. EPPs for both the warm and cool seasons, albeit with varying degrees of accuracy. The model’s skill in simulating each EPP tends to be positively correlated with its capability in representing the associated LMP. Model bias in the occurrence frequency of a governing LMP is directly related to the frequency bias in the corresponding EPP. In addition, however, discrepancies are found between the CCSM4’s representation of LMPs and EPPs over regions such as the western United States and Midwest, where topographic precipitation influences and organized convection are prominent, respectively. In these cases, the model representation of finer-scale physical processes appears to be at least equally important compared to the LMPs in driving the occurrence of extreme precipitation.


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