Interdecadal variation in US Pacific coast precipitation over the past four decades
- Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
The interdecadal variation of precipitation along the US Pacific coast over the past 45 winters (1950-94) was examined with station observations. An interdecadal decreasing (minor increasing) trend appeared north (south) of 36{degrees}N. This interdecadal trend in precipitation is related to the development of an anomalous dipole structure (a major anamalous high centered over the Pacific coast at British Columbia and a minor anamalous low centered over northern Baja California) throughout the past several decades. The correlation coefficient patterns between the Pacific coast precipitation and upper-air geopotential heights, and the difference charts of upper-air geopotential heights between the first (1950-59) and last (1985-94) 10 winters revealed that the interdecadal variation of the western U.S. circulation is a part of that in the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation. In turn, the interdecadal variation of the Pacific coast precipitation is a consequence of the interdecadal variation of the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation. 18 refs., 6 figs.
- OSTI ID:
- 457892
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 77, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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