HR: 0830h
AN: GC31B-0172    [PDF]
TI: Occurrence, Frequency and Persistence of Historical Upper Air Flows and Precipitation Trends in Western North America
AU: Rabe, N J
EM: nicole.rabe@uleth.ca
AF: University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 Canada
AU: * McKechnie, N R
EM: nicole.mckechnie@uleth.ca
AF: University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 Canada
AU: Byrne, J M
EM: byrne@uleth.ca
AF: University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 Canada
AB: We are seeking relationships that reflect historical synoptic upper airflow pattern-precipitation efficacy for a large number of climate stations in western North America. Classification of the historical daily 500 mb surfaces is ongoing for the fall and winter periods, 1960-90, as part of a program to develop high resolution historical and future precipitation scenarios. The Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS) software is used to display the 500 mb surface as defined by the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis 6 hourly data (grid size 2.5x2.5 degree; window boundaries 15-80 N and 60-160 W). The 500 mb surfaces were classified according to Changnon et al. (1993). The pattern data is undergoing statistical and temporal trend analyses to determine if/how specific pattern occurrence, frequency and persistence impacts daily and seasonal precipitation.
DE: 1620 Climate dynamics (3309)
DE: 3364 Synoptic-scale meteorology
DE: 9350 North America
SC: Global Climate Change [GC]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting