Changing duration and spatial extent of midlatitude precipitation extremes across different climates
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Changing duration.pdf
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Author(s)
Dwyer, John G
O'Gorman, Paul
Date Issued
June 2017
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Citation
Dwyer, J. G., and P. A. O’Gorman. “Changing Duration and Spatial Extent of Midlatitude Precipitation Extremes Across Different Climates.” Geophysical Research Letters 44, no. 11 (June 15, 2017): 5863–5871. © 2017 American Geophysical Union
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Precipitation extremes intensify with climate warming in observations and simulations, but changes in their duration or spatial extent are not well understood. Here the duration and zonal length of midlatitude precipitation extremes are quantified in climate model simulations. Most comprehensive climate models project a decrease in duration over the 21st century, although the magnitude of the decrease with warming is less than 1% K[superscript −1] in the multimodel mean. An advective time scale based on the mean zonal wind is shown to be linked to the duration in terms of spatial distribution, intermodel differences, and response to climate change. In simulations with an idealized climate model, a stronger meridional temperature gradient decreases the duration despite increases in the zonal length, and this is explained using the thermal wind relation and the Rossby deformation radius. However, the response of the zonal length to increasing mean temperature requires further study.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL072855
