Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

The Paths of Extratropical Cyclones Associated with Wintertime High-Wind Events in the Northeastern United States

James F. Booth Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, City College of New York, New York, New York

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Harald E. Rieder Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, and Institute for Geophysics, Astrophysics and Meteorology/Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Graz, Austria, and Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, New York

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Dong Eun Lee Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, New York

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Yochanan Kushnir Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, New York

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Print Publication:
01 Sep 2015
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-14-0320.1
Page(s):
1871–1885
Restricted access

Abstract

This study analyzes the association between wintertime high-wind events (HWEs) in the northeastern United States and extratropical cyclones. Sustained wind maxima in the daily summary data from the National Climatic Data Center’s integrated surface database are analyzed for 1979–2012. For each station, a generalized Pareto distribution is fit to the upper tail of the daily maximum wind speed data, and probabilistic return levels at 1, 3, and 5 yr are derived. Wind events meeting the return-level criteria are termed HWEs. The HWEs occurring on the same day are grouped into simultaneous wind exceedance dates, termed multistation events. In a separate analysis, extratropical cyclones are tracked using ERA-Interim. The multistation events are associated with the extratropical cyclone tracks on the basis of cyclone proximity on the day of the event. The multistation wind events are found to be most often associated with cyclones traveling from southwest to northeast, originating west of the Appalachian Mountains. To quantify the relative frequency of the strong-wind-associated cyclones, the full set of northeastern cyclone tracks is separated on the basis of path, using a crosshairs algorithm designed for this region. The tracks separate into an evenly distributed set of four pathways approaching the northeastern United States: from due west, from the southwest, and from the southeast and storms starting off the coast north of the Carolinas. Using the frequency of the tracks in each of the pathways, it is shown that the storms associated with multistation wind events are most likely to approach the northeastern United States from the southwest.

Supplemental information related to this paper is available at the Journals Online website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-14-0320.s1.

Corresponding author address: J. F. Booth, 160 Convent Avenue, Marshak Science Building, Room 106, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031-9101. E-mail: jbooth@ccny.cuny.edu

Abstract

This study analyzes the association between wintertime high-wind events (HWEs) in the northeastern United States and extratropical cyclones. Sustained wind maxima in the daily summary data from the National Climatic Data Center’s integrated surface database are analyzed for 1979–2012. For each station, a generalized Pareto distribution is fit to the upper tail of the daily maximum wind speed data, and probabilistic return levels at 1, 3, and 5 yr are derived. Wind events meeting the return-level criteria are termed HWEs. The HWEs occurring on the same day are grouped into simultaneous wind exceedance dates, termed multistation events. In a separate analysis, extratropical cyclones are tracked using ERA-Interim. The multistation events are associated with the extratropical cyclone tracks on the basis of cyclone proximity on the day of the event. The multistation wind events are found to be most often associated with cyclones traveling from southwest to northeast, originating west of the Appalachian Mountains. To quantify the relative frequency of the strong-wind-associated cyclones, the full set of northeastern cyclone tracks is separated on the basis of path, using a crosshairs algorithm designed for this region. The tracks separate into an evenly distributed set of four pathways approaching the northeastern United States: from due west, from the southwest, and from the southeast and storms starting off the coast north of the Carolinas. Using the frequency of the tracks in each of the pathways, it is shown that the storms associated with multistation wind events are most likely to approach the northeastern United States from the southwest.

Supplemental information related to this paper is available at the Journals Online website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-14-0320.s1.

Corresponding author address: J. F. Booth, 160 Convent Avenue, Marshak Science Building, Room 106, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031-9101. E-mail: jbooth@ccny.cuny.edu
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