A Summary of GFS Ensemble Integrated Water Vapor Transport Forecasts and Skill Along the U.S. West Coast during Water Years 2017–2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Cordeira ◽  
F. Martin Ralph
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Probability Of Detection ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Skill Scores ◽  
The U.S

AbstractThe ability to provide accurate forecasts and improve situational awareness of atmospheric rivers (ARs) is key to impact-based decision support services and applications such as forecast-informed reservoir operations. The purpose of this study is to quantify the cool-season water year skill for 2017–2020 of the NCEP Global Ensemble Forecast System forecasts of integrated water vapor transport along the U.S. West Coast commonly observed during landfalling ARs. This skill is summarized for ensemble probability-over-threshold forecasts of integrated water vapor transport magnitudes ≥250 kg m–1 s–1 (referred to as P250). The P250 forecasts near North-Coastal California at 38°N, 123°W were reliable and successful at lead times of ~8–9 days with an average success ratio >0.5 for P250 forecasts ≥50% at lead times of 8 days and Brier skill scores >0.1 at a lead time of 8–9 days. Skill and accuracy also varied as a function of latitude and event characteristics. The highest (lowest) success ratios and probability of detection values for P250 forecasts ≥50% occurred on average across northern California and Oregon (southern California), whereas the average probability of detection of more intense and longer duration landfalling ARs was 0.1–0.2 higher than weaker and shorter duration events at lead times of 3–9 days. The potential for these forecasts to enhance situational awareness may also be improved, depending on individual applications, by allowing for flexibility in the location and time of verification; the success ratios increased 10–30% at lead times of 5-to-10 days allowing for flexibility of ±1.0° latitude and ±6 hours in verification.

scholarly journals Assessment of Numerical Weather Prediction Model Reforecasts of the Occurrence, Intensity, and Location of Atmospheric Rivers along the West Coast of North America

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (10) ◽  
pp. 3343-3362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle M. Nardi ◽  
Elizabeth A. Barnes ◽  
F. Martin Ralph
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
North America ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Model Errors ◽  
The West ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Landfall Location

AbstractAtmospheric rivers (ARs)—narrow corridors of high atmospheric water vapor transport—occur globally and are associated with flooding and maintenance of the water supply. Therefore, it is important to improve forecasts of AR occurrence and characteristics. Although prior work has examined the skill of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models in forecasting atmospheric rivers, these studies only cover several years of reforecasts from a handful of models. Here, we expand this previous work and assess the performance of 10–30 years of wintertime (November–February) AR landfall reforecasts from the control runs of nine operational weather models, obtained from the International Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Project database. Model errors along the west coast of North America at leads of 1–14 days are examined in terms of AR occurrence, intensity, and landfall location. Occurrence-based skill approaches that of climatology at 14 days, while models are, on average, more skillful at shorter leads in California, Oregon, and Washington compared to British Columbia and Alaska. We also find that the average magnitude of landfall integrated water vapor transport (IVT) error stays fairly constant across lead times, although overprediction of IVT is common at later lead times. Finally, we show that northward landfall location errors are favored in California, Oregon, and Washington, although southward errors occur more often than expected from climatology. These results highlight the need for model improvements, while helping to identify factors that cause model errors.

scholarly journals Changes in the Climatology, Structure, and Seasonality of Northeast Pacific Atmospheric Rivers in CMIP5 Climate Simulations

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 2131-2141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Warner ◽  
Clifford F. Mass
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Climate Simulations ◽  
Rcp 8.5 ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
The U.S

Abstract This paper describes changes in the climatology, structure, and seasonality of cool-season atmospheric rivers influencing the U.S. West Coast by examining the climate simulations from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) that are forced by the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario. There are only slight changes in atmospheric river (AR) frequency and seasonality between historical (1970–99) and future (2070–99) periods considering the most extreme days (99th percentile) in integrated water vapor transport (IVT) along the U.S. West Coast. Changes in the 99th percentile of precipitation are only significant over the southern portion of the coast. In contrast, using the number of future days exceeding the historical 99th percentile IVT threshold produces statistically significant increases in the frequency of extreme IVT events for all winter months. The peak in future AR days appears to occur approximately one month earlier. The 10-model mean historical and end-of-century composites of extreme IVT days reflect canonical AR conditions, with a plume of high IVT extending from the coast to the southwest. The similar structure and evolution associated with ARs in the historical and future periods suggest little change in large-scale structure of such events during the upcoming century. Increases in extreme IVT intensity are primarily associated with integrated water vapor increases accompanying a warming climate. Along the southern portion of the U.S. West Coast there is less model agreement regarding the structure and intensity of ARs than along the northern portions of the coast.

Extreme Surface Winds During Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers: The Modulating Role of Near-Surface Stability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence J. Pagano ◽  
Duane E. Waliser ◽  
Bin Guan ◽  
Hengchun Ye ◽  
F. Martin Ralph ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Surface Winds ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Extreme Surface ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Explained Variance

AbstractAtmospheric rivers (ARs) are long and narrow regions of strong horizontal water vapor transport. Upon landfall, ARs are typically associated with heavy precipitation and strong surface winds. A quantitative understanding of the atmospheric conditions that favor extreme surface winds during ARs has implications for anticipating and managing various impacts associated with these potentially hazardous events. Here, a global AR database (1999–2014) with relevant information from MERRA-2 reanalysis, QuikSCAT and AIRS satellite observations are used to better understand and quantify the role of near-surface static stability in modulating surface winds during landfalling ARs. The temperature difference between the surface and 1 km MSL (ΔT; used here as a proxy for near-surface static stability), and integrated water vapor transport (IVT) are analyzed to quantify their relationships to surface winds using bivariate linear regression. In four regions where AR landfalls are common, the MERRA-2-based results indicate that IVT accounts for 22-38% of the variance in surface wind speed. Combining ΔT with IVT increases the explained variance to 36-52%. Substitution of QuikSCAT surface winds and AIRS ΔT in place of the MERRA-2 data largely preserves this relationship (e.g., 44% compared to 52% explained variance for USA West Coast). Use of an alternate static stability measure–the bulk Richardson number–yields a similar explained variance (47%). Lastly, AR cases within the top and bottom 25% of near-surface static stability indicate that extreme surface winds (gale or higher) are more likely to occur in unstable conditions (5.3%/14.7% during weak/strong IVT) than in stable conditions (0.58%/6.15%).

A Climatological Study of National Weat her Service Watches, Warnings, and Advisories and Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers in the Western U.S. 2006–2018

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel M. Bartlett ◽  
Jason M. Cordeira
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
Flash Flooding ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Heavy Snow

AbstractAtmospheric rivers (ARs) are synoptic-scale phenomena associated with long, narrow corridors of enhanced low-level water vapor transport. Landfalling ARs may produce numerous beneficial (e.g. drought amelioration and watershed recharge) and hazardous (e.g. flash flooding and heavy snow) impacts that may require the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue watches, warnings, and advisories (WWAs) for hazardous weather. Prior research on WWAs and ARs in California found that 50–70% of days with flood-related and 60–80% of days with winter weather-related WWAs occurred on days with landfalling ARs in California. The present study further investigates this relationship for landfalling ARs and WWAs during the cool seasons of 2006–2018 across the entire western U.S. and considers additional dimensions of AR intensity and duration. Across the western U.S., regional maxima of 70–90% of days with WWAs issued for any hazard type were associated with landfalling ARs. In the Pacific Northwest and Central regions, flood-related and wind-related WWAs were also more frequently associated with more intense and longer duration ARs. While a large majority of days with WWAs were associated with landfalling ARs, not all landfalling ARs were necessarily associated with WWAs (i.e., not all ARs are hazardous). For example, regional maxima of only 50–70% of AR days were associated with WWAs issued for any hazard type. However, as landfalling AR intensity and duration increased, the association with a WWA and the “hazard footprint” of WWAs increased quasi-exponentially across the western U.S.

Avalanche Fatalities during Atmospheric River Events in the Western United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1359-1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Hatchett ◽  
Susan Burak ◽  
Jonathan J. Rutz ◽  
Nina S. Oakley ◽  
Edward H. Bair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Snow Avalanche ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Avalanche Forecasting ◽  
Snow Water

Abstract The occurrence of atmospheric rivers (ARs) in association with avalanche fatalities is evaluated in the conterminous western United States between 1998 and 2014 using archived avalanche reports, atmospheric reanalysis products, an existing AR catalog, and weather station observations. AR conditions were present during or preceding 105 unique avalanche incidents resulting in 123 fatalities, thus comprising 31% of western U.S. avalanche fatalities. Coastal snow avalanche climates had the highest percentage of avalanche fatalities coinciding with AR conditions (31%–65%), followed by intermountain (25%–46%) and continental snow avalanche climates (<25%). Ratios of avalanche deaths during AR conditions to total AR days increased with distance from the coast. Frequent heavy to extreme precipitation (85th–99th percentile) during ARs favored critical snowpack loading rates with mean snow water equivalent increases of 46 mm. Results demonstrate that there exists regional consistency between snow avalanche climates, derived AR contributions to cool season precipitation, and percentages of avalanche fatalities during ARs. The intensity of water vapor transport and topographic corridors favoring inland water vapor transport may be used to help identify periods of increased avalanche hazard in intermountain and continental snow avalanche climates prior to AR landfall. Several recently developed AR forecast tools applicable to avalanche forecasting are highlighted.

Evaluation of the subseasonal forecast skill of floods associated with atmospheric rivers in coastal Western U.S. watersheds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Cao ◽  
Shraddhanand Shukla ◽  
Michael J. DeFlorio ◽  
F. Martin Ralph ◽  
Dennis P. Lettenmaier
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Forecast Skill ◽  
Probabilistic Forecast ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Streamflow Prediction ◽  
Antecedent Soil Moisture ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
The U.S

AbstractAtmospheric rivers (ARs) are responsible for up to 90% of major flood events along the U.S. West Coast. The timescale of subseasonal forecasting (two weeks to one month) is a critical lead time for proactive mitigation of flood disasters. The NOAA/Climate Testbed Subseasonal Experiment (SubX) is a research-to-operations project with almost immediate availability of forecasts. It has produced a reforecast database that facilitates evaluation of flood forecasts at these subseasonal lead times. Here, we examine the SubX driven forecast skill of AR-related flooding out to 4-week lead using the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM), with particular attention to the role of antecedent soil moisture (ASM), which modulates the relationship between meteorological and hydrological forecast skill. We study three watersheds along a transect of the U.S. West Coast: the Chehalis River basin in Washington, the Russian River basin in Northern California, and the Santa Margarita River basin in Southern California. We find that the SubX driven flood forecast skill drops quickly after week 1, during which there is relatively high deterministic forecast skill. We find some probabilistic forecast skill relative to climatology as well as ensemble streamflow prediction (ESP) in week 2, but minimal skill in weeks 3-4, especially for annual maximum floods, notwithstanding some probabilistic skill for smaller floods in week 3. Using ESP and reverse-ESP experiments to consider the relative influence of ASM and SubX reforecast skill, we find that ASM dominates probabilistic forecast skill only for small flood events at week 1, while SubX reforecast skill dominates for large flood events at all lead times.

scholarly journals Forecasting Atmospheric Rivers during CalWater 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Cordeira ◽  
F. Martin Ralph ◽  
Andrew Martin ◽  
Natalie Gaggini ◽  
J. Ryan Spackman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Field Phase ◽  
Forecast System ◽  
Field Campaign ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Vapor Flux ◽  
The U.S

Abstract Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are long and narrow corridors of enhanced vertically integrated water vapor (IWV) and IWV transport (IVT) within the warm sector of extra tropical cyclones that can produce heavy precipitation and flooding in regions of complex terrain, especially along the U.S. West Coast. Several field campaigns have investigated ARs under the CalWater program of field studies. The first field phase of CalWater during 2009–11 increased the number of observations of precipitation and aerosols, among other parameters, across California and sampled ARs in the coastal and near-coastal environment, whereas the second field phase of CalWater during 2014–15 observed the structure and intensity of ARs and aerosols in the coastal and offshore environment over the northeast Pacific. This manuscript highlights the forecasts that were prepared for the CalWater field campaign in 2015, and the development and use of an “AR portal” that was used to inform these forecasts. The AR portal contains archived and real-time deterministic and probabilistic gridded forecast tools related to ARs that emphasize water vapor concentrations and water vapor flux distributions over the eastern North Pacific, among other parameters, in a variety of formats derived from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System and Global Ensemble Forecast System. The tools created for the CalWater 2015 field campaign provided valuable guidance for flight planning and field activity purposes, and they may prove useful in forecasting ARs and better anticipating hydrometeorological extremes along the U.S. West Coast.

scholarly journals Dropsonde Observations of Total Integrated Water Vapor Transport within North Pacific Atmospheric Rivers

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 2577-2596 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. M. Ralph ◽  
S. F. Iacobellis ◽  
P. J. Neiman ◽  
J. M. Cordeira ◽  
J. R. Spackman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Amazon River ◽  
Vertical Profiles ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
The Mean

Abstract Aircraft dropsonde observations provide the most comprehensive measurements to date of horizontal water vapor transport in atmospheric rivers (ARs). The CalWater experiment recently more than tripled the number of ARs probed with the required measurements. This study uses vertical profiles of water vapor, wind, and pressure obtained from 304 dropsondes across 21 ARs. On average, total water vapor transport (TIVT) in an AR was 4.7 × 108 ± 2 × 108 kg s−1. This magnitude is 2.6 times larger than the average discharge of liquid water from the Amazon River. The mean AR width was 890 ± 270 km. Subtropical ARs contained larger integrated water vapor (IWV) but weaker winds than midlatitude ARs, although average TIVTs were nearly the same. Mean TIVTs calculated by defining the lateral “edges” of ARs using an IVT threshold versus an IWV threshold produced results that differed by less than 10% across all cases, but did vary between the midlatitudes and subtropical regions.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Nonhydrostatic Simulations of Northeast Pacific Atmospheric Rivers and Comparison to in Situ Observations

2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (9) ◽  
pp. 3556-3569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Swain ◽  
Bereket Lebassi-Habtezion ◽  
Noah S. Diffenbaugh
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Extreme Values ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Neutral Stability ◽  
Horizontal Structure ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events

Abstract Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of concentrated atmospheric water vapor transport that provide an important atmospheric linkage between the subtropics and the midlatitudes, facilitating over 90% of meridional water vapor flux and often resulting in extreme precipitation events in regions of enhanced coastal orography. In this investigation, the authors conduct continuous (3 month), large-domain (3600 km × 3200 km), high-resolution (4 km), nonhydrostatic simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model and compare the observations to previously reported dropsonde observations from the California Land-Falling Jets Experiment (CALJET) and the Pacific Land-Falling Jets Experiment (PACJET) in order to address an existing gap in knowledge regarding the ability of atmospheric models to simulate the finescale vertical and horizontal structure of atmospheric rivers. The WRF simulations reproduce key structural and thermodynamic characteristics of atmospheric rivers—including well-defined corridors of strong water vapor transport, moist-neutral stability in the lower troposphere, and strong low-level jet/water vapor transport maxima near ~1 km MSL. While WRF does generally capture the extreme values of instantaneous vertically integrated water transport—a defining feature of real-world atmospheric rivers—constituent variables exhibit biases relative to observations, including −11.2% for integrated vapor transport, +5.9% for integrated water vapor, and −17.7% for 1 km MSL wind speed. Findings suggest that high-resolution nonhydrostatic atmospheric simulations are an appropriate tool for investigating atmospheric rivers in contexts where finescale spatial structure and realistic water vapor transport maxima are important.

scholarly journals How Do Atmospheric Rivers Form?

2015 ◽  
Vol 96 (8) ◽  
pp. 1243-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. F. Dacre ◽  
P. A. Clark ◽  
O. Martinez-Alvarado ◽  
M. A. Stringer ◽  
D. A. Lavers
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Cold Front ◽  
High Water ◽  
Water Vapor Content ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Atmospheric River ◽  
Warm Sector

Abstract The term “atmospheric river” is used to describe corridors of strong water vapor transport in the troposphere. Filaments of enhanced water vapor, commonly observed in satellite imagery extending from the subtropics to the extratropics, are routinely used as a proxy for identifying these regions of strong water vapor transport. The precipitation associated with these filaments of enhanced water vapor can lead to high-impact flooding events. However, there remains some debate as to how these filaments form. In this paper, the authors analyze the transport of water vapor within a climatology of wintertime North Atlantic extratropical cyclones. Results show that atmospheric rivers are formed by the cold front that sweeps up water vapor in the warm sector as it catches up with the warm front. This causes a narrow band of high water vapor content to form ahead of the cold front at the base of the warm conveyor belt airflow. Thus, water vapor in the cyclone’s warm sector, not long-distance transport of water vapor from the subtropics, is responsible for the generation of filaments of high water vapor content. A continuous cycle of evaporation and moisture convergence within the cyclone replenishes water vapor lost via precipitation. Thus, rather than representing a direct and continuous feed of moist air from the subtropics into the center of a cyclone (as suggested by the term “atmospheric river”), these filaments are, in fact, the result of water vapor exported from the cyclone, and thus they represent the footprints left behind as cyclones travel poleward from the subtropics.

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