Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Climatological Characteristics of Atmospheric Rivers and Their Inland Penetration over the Western United States

Jonathan J. Rutz Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

Search for other papers by Jonathan J. Rutz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
W. James Steenburgh Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

Search for other papers by W. James Steenburgh in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
F. Martin Ralph Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, California

Search for other papers by F. Martin Ralph in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Feb 2014
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-13-00168.1
Page(s):
905–921
Restricted access

Abstract

Narrow corridors of water vapor transport known as atmospheric rivers (ARs) contribute to extreme precipitation and flooding along the West Coast of the United States, but knowledge of their influence over the interior is limited. Here, the authors use Interim European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) data, Climate Prediction Center (CPC) precipitation analyses, and Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) observations to describe the characteristics of cool-season (November–April) ARs over the western United States. It is shown that AR frequency and duration exhibit a maximum along the Oregon–Washington coast, a strong transition zone upwind (west) of and over the Cascade–Sierra ranges, and a broad minimum that extends from the “high” Sierra south of Lake Tahoe eastward across the central Great Basin and into the deep interior. East of the Cascade–Sierra ranges, AR frequency and duration are largest over the interior northwest, while AR duration is large compared to AR frequency over the interior southwest. The fractions of cool-season precipitation and top-decile 24-h precipitation events attributable to ARs are largest over and west of the Cascade–Sierra ranges. Farther east, these fractions are largest over the northwest and southwest interior, with distinctly different large-scale patterns and AR orientations enabling AR penetration into each of these regions. In contrast, AR-related precipitation over the Great Basin east of the high Sierra is rare. These results indicate that water vapor depletion over major topographic barriers is a key contributor to AR decay, with ARs playing a more prominent role in the inland precipitation climatology where lower or less continuous topography facilitates the inland penetration of ARs.

Corresponding author address: Jonathan J. Rutz, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, 135 S. 1460 E, Rm. 819 (WBB), Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: jon.rutz@utah.edu

Abstract

Narrow corridors of water vapor transport known as atmospheric rivers (ARs) contribute to extreme precipitation and flooding along the West Coast of the United States, but knowledge of their influence over the interior is limited. Here, the authors use Interim European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) data, Climate Prediction Center (CPC) precipitation analyses, and Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) observations to describe the characteristics of cool-season (November–April) ARs over the western United States. It is shown that AR frequency and duration exhibit a maximum along the Oregon–Washington coast, a strong transition zone upwind (west) of and over the Cascade–Sierra ranges, and a broad minimum that extends from the “high” Sierra south of Lake Tahoe eastward across the central Great Basin and into the deep interior. East of the Cascade–Sierra ranges, AR frequency and duration are largest over the interior northwest, while AR duration is large compared to AR frequency over the interior southwest. The fractions of cool-season precipitation and top-decile 24-h precipitation events attributable to ARs are largest over and west of the Cascade–Sierra ranges. Farther east, these fractions are largest over the northwest and southwest interior, with distinctly different large-scale patterns and AR orientations enabling AR penetration into each of these regions. In contrast, AR-related precipitation over the Great Basin east of the high Sierra is rare. These results indicate that water vapor depletion over major topographic barriers is a key contributor to AR decay, with ARs playing a more prominent role in the inland precipitation climatology where lower or less continuous topography facilitates the inland penetration of ARs.

Corresponding author address: Jonathan J. Rutz, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, 135 S. 1460 E, Rm. 819 (WBB), Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: jon.rutz@utah.edu
Save
Cover Monthly Weather Review
Monthly Weather Review

  • Bao, J.-W., S. A. Michelson, P. J. Neiman, F. M. Ralph, and J. M. Wilczak, 2006: Interpretation of enhanced integrated water vapor bands associated with extratropical cyclones: Their formation and connection to tropical moisture. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 1063–1080.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bernhardt, D., 2006: Glacier National Park flooding November 2006. NWS Western Region Tech. Attachment 08-23, 15 pp.

  • Berrisford, P., D. Dee, K. Fielding, M. Fuentes, P. Kallberg, S. Kobayashi, and S. Uppala, 2009: The ERA-Interim archive. ECMWF Tech. Rep. 1, 16 pp. [Available online at http://www.ecmwf.int/publications/library/do/references/show?id=89203.]

  • Browning, K. A., 1971: Radar measurements of air motion near fronts. Weather, 26, 320–340.

  • Carlson, T. N., 1980: Airflow through midlatitude cyclones and the comma cloud pattern. Mon. Wea. Rev., 108, 1498–1509.

  • Dee, D. P., and Coauthors, 2011: The ERA-Interim reanalysis: Configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 137, 553–597, doi:10.1002/qj.828.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dettinger, M. D., F. M. Ralph, T. Das, P. J. Neiman, and D. R. Cayan, 2011: Atmospheric rivers, floods, and the water resources of California. Water,2011 (3), 445–478, doi:10.3390/w3020445.

  • Eckhardt, S., A. Stohl, H. Wernli, P. James, C. Forster, and N. Spichtinger, 2004: A 15-year climatology of warm conveyor belts. J. Climate, 17, 218–237.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Guan, B., N. P. Molotch, D. E. Waliser, E. J. Fetzer, and P. J. Neiman, 2010: Extreme snowfall events linked to atmospheric rivers and surface air temperature via satellite measurements. Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L20401, doi:10.1029/2010GL044696.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hart, K. A., W. J. Steenburgh, and D. J. Onton, 2005: Model forecast improvements with decreased horizontal grid spacing over finescale intermountain orography during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Wea. Forecasting,20, 558–576.

  • Higgins, R. W., W. Shi, E. Yarosh, and R. Joyce, 2000: Improved United States Precipitation Quality Control System and Analysis. NCEP/Climate Prediction Center Atlas 7, NCEP/CPC. [Available online at http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/outreach/research_papers/ncep_cpc_atlas/7/.]

  • Hughes, M., P. J. Neiman, E. Sukovich, and F. M. Ralph, 2012: Representation of the Sierra Barrier Jet in 11 years of a high-resolution dynamical reanalysis downscaling compared with long-term wind profiler observations. J. Geophys. Res., 117, D18116, doi:10.1029/2012JD017869.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Junker, N. W., R. H. Grumm, R. Hart, L. F. Bosart, K. M. Bell, and F. J. Pereira, 2008: Use of normalized anomaly fields to anticipate extreme rainfall in the mountains of northern California. Wea. Forecasting, 23, 336–356.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kanamitsu, M., 1989: Description of the NMC Global Data Assimilation and Forecast System. Wea. Forecasting, 4, 335–342.

  • Kingsmill, D. K., P. J. Neiman, B. J. Moore, M. Hughes, S. E. Yuter, and F. M. Ralph, 2013: Kinematic and thermodynamic structures of Sierra barrier jets and overrunning atmospheric rivers during a landfalling winter storm in Northern California. Mon. Wea. Rev., 141, 2015–2036.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lavers, D. A., R. P. Allen, E. F. Wood, G. Villarini, D. J. Brayshaw, and A. J. Wade, 2011: Winter floods in Britain are connected to atmospheric rivers. Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L23803, doi:10.1029/2011GL049783.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Moore, B. J., P. J. Neiman, F. M. Ralph, and F. E. Barthold, 2012: Physical processes associated with heavy flooding rainfall in Nashville, Tennessee, and vicinity during 1–2 May 2010: The role of an atmospheric river and mesoscale convective systems. Mon. Wea. Rev.,140, 358–378.

  • Neiman, P. J., F. M. Ralph, A. B. White, D. E. Kingsmill, and P. O. G. Persson, 2002: The statistical relationship between upslope flow and rainfall in California’s Coastal Mountains: Observations during CALJET. Mon. Wea. Rev., 130, 1468–1492.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Neiman, P. J., F. M. Ralph, G. A. Wick, Y.-H. Kuo, T.-K. Wee, Z. Ma, G. H. Taylor, and M. D. Dettinger, 2008a: Diagnosis of an intense atmospheric river impacting the Pacific Northwest: Storm summary and offshore vertical structure observed with COSMIC satellite retrievals. Mon. Wea. Rev., 136, 4398–4420.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Neiman, P. J., F. M. Ralph, G. A. Wick, J. D. Lundquist, and M. D. Dettinger, 2008b: Meteorological characteristics and overland precipitation impacts of atmospheric rivers affecting the west coast of North America based on eight years of SSM/I satellite observations. J. Hydrometeor., 9, 22–47.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Neiman, P. J., E. M. Sukovich, F. M. Ralph, and M. Hughes, 2010: A seven-year wind profiler-based climatology of the windward barrier jet along California’s Sierra Nevada. Mon. Wea. Rev., 138, 1206–1233.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Neiman, P. J., L. J. Schick, F. M. Ralph, M. Hughes, and G. A. Wick, 2011: Flooding in western Washington: The connection to atmospheric rivers. J. Hydrometeor., 12, 1337–1358.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Neiman, P. J., F. M. Ralph, B. J. Moore, M. Hughes, K. M. Mahoney, J. M. Cordeira, and M. D. Dettinger, 2013: The landfall and inland penetration of a flood-producing atmospheric river in Arizona. Part I: Observed synoptic-scale, orographic, and hydrometeorological characteristics. J. Hydrometeor., 14, 460–464.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Newell, R. E., and Y. Zhu, 1994: Tropospheric rivers: A one-year record and a possible application to ice core data. Geophys. Res. Lett., 21, 113–116.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Newell, R. E., N. E. Newell, Y. Zhu, and C. Scott, 1992: Tropospheric rivers?—A pilot study. Geophys. Res. Lett., 19, 2401–2404.

  • Ralph, F. M., P. J. Neiman, and G. A. Wick, 2004: Satellite and CALJET aircraft observations of atmospheric rivers over the eastern North Pacific Ocean during the winter of 1997/98. Mon. Wea. Rev., 132, 1721–1745.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ralph, F. M., P. J. Neiman, G. A. Wick, S. I. Gutman, M. D. Dettinger, D. R. Cayan, and A. B. White, 2006: Flooding on California’s Russian River: Role of atmospheric rivers. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L13801, doi:10.1029/2006GL026689.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ralph, F. M., P. J. Neiman, G. N. Kiladis, K. Weickmann, and D. W. Reynolds, 2011: A multiscale observational case study of a Pacific atmospheric river exhibiting tropical–extratropical connections and a mesoscale frontal wave. Mon. Wea. Rev., 139, 1169–1189.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ralph, F. M., T. Coleman, P. J. Neiman, R. J. Zamora, and M. D. Dettinger, 2013a: Observed impacts of duration and seasonality of atmospheric-river landfalls on soil moisture and runoff in coastal northern California. J. Hydrometeor., 14, 443–459.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ralph, F. M., and Coauthors, 2013b: The emergence of weather-related test beds linking research and forecasting operations. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 94, 1187–1211.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rasmussen, R., and Coauthors, 2011: High-resolution coupled climate runoff simulations of seasonal snowfall over Colorado: A process study of current and warmer climate. J. Climate, 24, 3015–3048.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rigby, J. G., 1998: The 1997 New Year’s floods in western Nevada. Special Publication 23, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 111 pp.

  • Rutz, J. J., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2012: Quantifying the role of atmospheric rivers in the interior western United States. Atmos. Sci. Lett., 13, 257–261, doi:10.1002/asl.392.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Serreze, M. C., M. P. Clark, R. L. Armstrong, D. A. McGinnis, and R. S. Pulwarty, 1999: Characteristics of the western United States snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) data. Water Resour. Res., 35 (7), 2145–2160.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Simmons, A., S. Uppala, D. Dee, and S. Kobayashi, 2007: ERA-Interim: New ECMWF reanalysis products from 1989 onwards. ECMWF Newsletter, No. 110, ECMWF, Reading, United Kingdom, 25–35.

  • Smith, B. L., S. E. Yuter, P. J. Neiman, and D. E. Kingsmill, 2010: Water vapor fluxes and orographic precipitation over northern California associated with a landfalling atmospheric river. Mon. Wea. Rev., 138, 74–100.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Smith, R. B., I. Barstad, and L. Bonneau, 2005: Orographic precipitation and Oregon’s climate transition. J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 177–191.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sodemann, H., and A. Stohl, 2013: Moisture origin and meridional transport in atmospheric rivers and their association with multiple cyclones. Mon. Wea. Rev., 141, 2850–2868.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Stohl, A., C. Forster, and H. Sodemann, 2008: Remote sources of water vapor forming precipitation on the Norwegian west coast at 60°N—A tale of hurricanes and an atmospheric river. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D05102, doi:10.1029/2007JD009006.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Uppala, S., D. Dee, S. Kobayashi, P. Berrisford, and A. Simmons, 2008: Towards a climate data assimilation system: Status update of ERA-Interim. ECMWF Newsletter, No. 115, ECMWF, Reading, United Kingdom, 12–18. [Available online at http://www.ecmwf.int/publications/newsletters/pdf/115.pdf.]

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • USDA-NRCS, 2012a: SNOTEL and snow survey & water supply forecasting. USDA-NRCS, 2 pp. [Available online at http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/SNOTEL-brochure.pdf.]

  • USDA-NRCS, cited 2012b: SNOTEL data collection network fact sheet. [Available online at http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/factpub/sntlfct1.html.]

  • U.S. Department of the Interior, 2012: Flood of January 1997 in the Truckee River Basin, Western Nevada. USGS, 2 pp. [Available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/0123/report.pdf.]

  • Viale, M., and M. N. Nuñez, 2011: Climatology of winter orographic precipitation over the subtropical central Andes and associated synoptic and regional characteristics. J. Hydrometeor., 12, 481–507.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Warner, M. D., C. F. Mass, and E. P. Salathé, 2012: Wintertime extreme precipitation events along the Pacific Northwest coast: Climatology and synoptic evolution. Mon. Wea. Rev., 140, 2021–2043.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wick, G. A., P. J. Neiman, and F. M. Ralph, 2013: Description and validation of an automated objective technique for identification and characterization of the integrated water vapor signature of atmospheric rivers. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 51 (4), 2166–2176, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2012.2211024.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Zhu, Y., and R. E. Newell, 1998: A proposed algorithm for moisture fluxes from atmospheric rivers. Mon. Wea. Rev., 126, 725–735.