Annual snowpack patterns across the Rockies: Long-term trends and associated 500-mb synoptic patterns
Abstract
Winter snowpack was investigated to determine spatial and temporal climate variability in a five-state region (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming) in the northern Rocky Mountains, covering the period 1951-1985. Annual 1 April snowpack (SN) measurements were selected for analyses. Three basic and persistent patterns of annual SN values surfaced: years with a consistent anomaly over the entire region (wet or dry); years with a distinct north-to-south gradient; and average years. Nearly 90% of the nonaverage annual SN patterns were explained by the frequency of seven 500-mb winter synoptic patterns. The wet-north-dry-south gradient SN patterns occurred only before 1974, and the dry-north-wet-south gradient southern areas of the five-state region are due to periods when one of the two north-to-south gradient SN patterns occurred and are explained by the changes in the frequency of synoptic patterns. 20 refs., 19 figs., 6 tabs.
- Authors:
-
- Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb (United States)
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (United States)
- Publication Date:
- OSTI Identifier:
- 6502931
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Weather Review; (United States)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 121:3; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; ROCKY MOUNTAINS; CLIMATIC CHANGE; SNOW; ANNUAL VARIATIONS; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; STATISTICS; WATER RESOURCES; ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS; DATA; INFORMATION; MATHEMATICS; MOUNTAINS; NUMERICAL DATA; RESOURCES; VARIATIONS; 540310* - Environment, Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-); 540110
Citation Formats
Changnon, D, McKee, T B, and Doesken, N J. Annual snowpack patterns across the Rockies: Long-term trends and associated 500-mb synoptic patterns. United States: N. p., 1993.
Web. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<0633:ASPATR>2.0.CO;2.
Changnon, D, McKee, T B, & Doesken, N J. Annual snowpack patterns across the Rockies: Long-term trends and associated 500-mb synoptic patterns. United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<0633:ASPATR>2.0.CO;2
Changnon, D, McKee, T B, and Doesken, N J. 1993.
"Annual snowpack patterns across the Rockies: Long-term trends and associated 500-mb synoptic patterns". United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<0633:ASPATR>2.0.CO;2.
@article{osti_6502931,
title = {Annual snowpack patterns across the Rockies: Long-term trends and associated 500-mb synoptic patterns},
author = {Changnon, D and McKee, T B and Doesken, N J},
abstractNote = {Winter snowpack was investigated to determine spatial and temporal climate variability in a five-state region (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming) in the northern Rocky Mountains, covering the period 1951-1985. Annual 1 April snowpack (SN) measurements were selected for analyses. Three basic and persistent patterns of annual SN values surfaced: years with a consistent anomaly over the entire region (wet or dry); years with a distinct north-to-south gradient; and average years. Nearly 90% of the nonaverage annual SN patterns were explained by the frequency of seven 500-mb winter synoptic patterns. The wet-north-dry-south gradient SN patterns occurred only before 1974, and the dry-north-wet-south gradient southern areas of the five-state region are due to periods when one of the two north-to-south gradient SN patterns occurred and are explained by the changes in the frequency of synoptic patterns. 20 refs., 19 figs., 6 tabs.},
doi = {10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<0633:ASPATR>2.0.CO;2},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6502931},
journal = {Monthly Weather Review; (United States)},
issn = {0027-0644},
number = ,
volume = 121:3,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1993},
month = {Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1993}
}