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Title: Interannual and intra-annual variability of rainfall in Haiti (1905–2005)

Abstract

The interannual variability of annual and monthly rainfall in Haiti is examined from a database of 78 rain gauges in 1905–2005. The spatial coherence of annual rainfall is rather low, which is partly due to Haiti’s rugged landscape, complex shoreline, and surrounding warm waters (mean sea surface temperatures >27 °C from May to December). The interannual variation of monthly rainfall is mostly shaped by the intensity of the low-level winds across the Caribbean Sea, leading to a drier- (or wetter-) than-average rainy season associated with easterly (or westerly) anomalies, increasing (or decreasing) winds. The varying speed of low-level easterlies across the Caribbean basin may reflect at least four different processes during the year: (1) an anomalous trough/ridge over the western edge of the Azores high from December to February, peaking in January; (2) a zonal pressure gradient between Eastern Pacific and the tropical Northern Atlantic from May/June to September, with a peak in August (i.e. lower-than-average rainfall in Haiti is associated with positive sea level pressure anomalies over the tropical North Atlantic and negative sea level pressure anomalies over the Eastern Pacific); (3) a local ocean–atmosphere coupling between the speed of the Caribbean Low Level Jet and the meridional seamore » surface temperature (SST) gradient across the Caribbean basin (i.e. colder-than-average SST in the southern Caribbean sea is associated with increased easterlies and below-average rainfall in Haiti). This coupling is triggered when the warmest Caribbean waters move northward toward the Gulf of Mexico; (4) in October/November, a drier- (or wetter-) than-usual rainy season is related to an almost closed anticyclonic (or cyclonic) anomaly located ENE of Haiti on the SW edge of the Azores high. This suggests a main control of the interannual variations of rainfall by intensity, track and/or recurrence of tropical depressions traveling northeast of Haiti. In conclusion, during this period, the teleconnection of Haitian rainfall with synchronous Atlantic and Eastern Pacific SST is at a minimum.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Aix-Marseille Univ., Marseille (France); Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
  2. French Inst. of Pondicherry IFP-CNRS, Pondicherry (India)
  3. Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) Ministry of Agriculture, Port-au-Prince (Haiti)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
OSTI Identifier:
1565282
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Climate Dynamics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 45; Journal Issue: 3-4; Journal ID: ISSN 0930-7575
Publisher:
Springer-Verlag
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; Haiti; Caribbean basin; Rainfall variability; Precipitation regime; Ocean–atmosphere coupling

Citation Formats

Moron, Vincent, Frelat, Romain, Jean-Jeune, Pierre Karly, and Gaucherel, Cédric. Interannual and intra-annual variability of rainfall in Haiti (1905–2005). United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2326-y.
Moron, Vincent, Frelat, Romain, Jean-Jeune, Pierre Karly, & Gaucherel, Cédric. Interannual and intra-annual variability of rainfall in Haiti (1905–2005). United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2326-y
Moron, Vincent, Frelat, Romain, Jean-Jeune, Pierre Karly, and Gaucherel, Cédric. Fri . "Interannual and intra-annual variability of rainfall in Haiti (1905–2005)". United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2326-y. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1565282.
@article{osti_1565282,
title = {Interannual and intra-annual variability of rainfall in Haiti (1905–2005)},
author = {Moron, Vincent and Frelat, Romain and Jean-Jeune, Pierre Karly and Gaucherel, Cédric},
abstractNote = {The interannual variability of annual and monthly rainfall in Haiti is examined from a database of 78 rain gauges in 1905–2005. The spatial coherence of annual rainfall is rather low, which is partly due to Haiti’s rugged landscape, complex shoreline, and surrounding warm waters (mean sea surface temperatures >27 °C from May to December). The interannual variation of monthly rainfall is mostly shaped by the intensity of the low-level winds across the Caribbean Sea, leading to a drier- (or wetter-) than-average rainy season associated with easterly (or westerly) anomalies, increasing (or decreasing) winds. The varying speed of low-level easterlies across the Caribbean basin may reflect at least four different processes during the year: (1) an anomalous trough/ridge over the western edge of the Azores high from December to February, peaking in January; (2) a zonal pressure gradient between Eastern Pacific and the tropical Northern Atlantic from May/June to September, with a peak in August (i.e. lower-than-average rainfall in Haiti is associated with positive sea level pressure anomalies over the tropical North Atlantic and negative sea level pressure anomalies over the Eastern Pacific); (3) a local ocean–atmosphere coupling between the speed of the Caribbean Low Level Jet and the meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradient across the Caribbean basin (i.e. colder-than-average SST in the southern Caribbean sea is associated with increased easterlies and below-average rainfall in Haiti). This coupling is triggered when the warmest Caribbean waters move northward toward the Gulf of Mexico; (4) in October/November, a drier- (or wetter-) than-usual rainy season is related to an almost closed anticyclonic (or cyclonic) anomaly located ENE of Haiti on the SW edge of the Azores high. This suggests a main control of the interannual variations of rainfall by intensity, track and/or recurrence of tropical depressions traveling northeast of Haiti. In conclusion, during this period, the teleconnection of Haitian rainfall with synchronous Atlantic and Eastern Pacific SST is at a minimum.},
doi = {10.1007/s00382-014-2326-y},
journal = {Climate Dynamics},
number = 3-4,
volume = 45,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Fri Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

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