Surface and 700 hPa Atmospheric Circulation Patterns for the Great Lakes Basin and Eastern North America and Relationship to Atmospheric Teleconnections

Rohli, Robert V.; Vega, Anthony J.; Binkley, Michael R.; Britton, Stephen D.; Heckman, H.E.; Jenkins, James M.; Ono, Yūichi; Sheeler, Deborah E.

doi:10.1016/s0380-1330(99)70716-1

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…For example, Circulation Types 1 and 3 and their cluster E are similar in that all three feature a deep trough over eastern North America. Rohli et al (1999) found the occurrence of their cluster E to be related to the PNA index. However, only 2 of the 3 centers of action of the PNA pattern are located within or near the boundary of the map window used here; neither of the 2 centers of action of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a teleconnection pattern known to influence the climate of eastern North America, is located within that map window.…”

Section: Daily Time Scale: Local Minimamentioning

confidence: 94%

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Local versus remote grid points in climate downscaling

Brinkmann

2002

Clim. Res.

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The association between daily as well as monthly winter precipitation and concurrent 700 hPa heights for 3 different North American precipitation regimes was examined using correlation fields and a typing of daily 700 hPa height patterns. Wet days, regardless of circulation type, were found to be associated with negative height anomalies immediately to the west or northwest of the precipitation regions, at the 'local' grid point. These small-scale height anomalies were found to represent traveling short waves that were missed by the circulation typing scheme. The correlation fields between monthly precipitation and concurrent 700 hPa heights revealed a westward shift of the height minima to a location west of 100°W, to a 'remote' grid point. The nature of these remote minima was examined using the 10 wettest and 10 driest months. Decomposition of the height anomalies at the remote grid points into between-type and within-type contributions revealed that while some of the negative heights during wet months are due to an increase in the frequency of circulation patterns with below normal heights (such as troughs or weak ridges), more than two-thirds of the contribution comes from height depressions superimposed upon the larger-scale patterns and most of these are associated with positive vorticity. This leads to the conclusion that the correlation minima west of 100°W at the monthly time scale reflect the frequent generation of short waves during wet months over the well-known North American cyclogenetic region east of the Rocky Mountains. These results have 2 implications with respect to statistical downscaling. First, regarding techniques designed to extract information from a single grid point: the optimum grid point location may be a function of the time scale under consideration. Second, regarding techniques designed to extract information from large-scale circulation patterns: the difficulties in capturing the very important but small short waves limit their usefulness. KEY WORDS: Precipitation · 700 hPa · Circulation pattern typing · North America · DownscalingResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Clim Res 21: 27-42, 2002 cal to this approach since the circulation features of significance to the local climate need to be captured. Most investigators place the window over and to the west of the area of interest because weather systems travel from west to east. Using information from the nearest grid point also makes physical sense because the atmospheric conditions at the nearest point should be most similar to those over the area of interest. However, it has been shown that for some parts of the country the strongest correlation between local precipitation and geopotential heights is not at the nearest (local) but at a remote grid point (generally to the west of the area of interest).Specifically, Stidd (1954) computed correlation fields between 700 hPa heights and a series of state-wide precipitation totals for winter months and found that almost all of ...

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Section: Daily Time Scale: Local Minimamentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Wallace & Gutzler 1981, Barnston & Livezey 1987. Rohli et al (1999), for example, developed a PC-based classification of 700 hPa heights for a window similar to the one used here and correlated the PC scores with teleconnection indices. There are similarities between their map clusters and the circulation types in Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Local versus remote grid points in climate downscaling

Brinkmann

2002

Clim. Res.

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“…The atmospheric flow over the Great Lakes appears to be less disturbed during El Niño events (Angel et al1999) with less frequent cyclones during El Niño years than non-ENSO years. Rohli et al (1999), however, have found no strong association between Great Lakes regional surface circulation and ENSO events. This may be a result of a non-linear response of Great Lakes climatic variables to ENSO events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Rohli et al (1999) have examined the linkage between regional scale atmospheric circulation in the Great Lakes basin and continental-to hemispheric-scale circulation patterns. Their results support the notion that the regional atmosphere undergoes shifts consistent with the broader-scale circulation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They have found no direct association with the PNA index, but noticed that it can modulate the association with the NAO. According to Rohli et al (1999), the regional atmosphere over the Great Lakes experiences the effect of both the PNA and NAO patterns. Evidence of PNA teleconnections with Great Lakes climatic variables was presented by .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tree-Structured Modeling of the Relationship Between Great Lakes Ice Cover and Atmospheric Circulation Patterns

Rodionov

Assel

Herche

2001

Journal of Great Lakes Research

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Recent climatological trends and potential influences on forest phenology around western Lake Superior, USA

Garcia

Townsend

2016

JGR Atmospheres

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We assess long‐term climatological means, trends, and interannual variability around the western end of Lake Superior during 1984–2013 by using available weather station data. Our results focus on changes in basic and derived climate indicators from seasonal and annual temperature and precipitation, to the traditionally defined frost‐free season, to a novel definition of the climatological growing season. We describe seasonal and year‐to‐year climate variability that influences forest phenology, using an alternative growing season metric that is based on the warm‐season plateau in accumulated chilling days as an indicator of environmental triggers for vegetation growth and senescence. Our results indicate +0.56°C regional warming during our 30 year study period, with cooler springs (−1.26°C) and significant autumn warming (+1.54°C). The duration of the climatological growing season has increased +0.27 d/yr, extending primarily into autumn. Summer precipitation in our study area has declined by an average −0.34 cm/yr, potentially leading to moisture stress that impairs vegetation carbon uptake rates and can render the forest more vulnerable to disturbance. Many changes in temperature, precipitation, and climatological growing season are most prominent in locations where Lake Superior exerts a strong hydroclimatological influence, especially the Minnesota shoreline and in forest areas downwind (southeast) of the lake. Observed trends in lake temperature and ice phenology have also changed, coincident with a large‐scale climatological regime shift around 1998. A number of factors are likely altering forest phenology and the role of the forest in the climate system of this ecologically important and highly varied forest‐and‐lake region.

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Surface and 700 hPa Atmospheric Circulation Patterns for the Great Lakes Basin and Eastern North America and Relationship to Atmospheric Teleconnections

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Local versus remote grid points in climate downscaling

Local versus remote grid points in climate downscaling

Tree-Structured Modeling of the Relationship Between Great Lakes Ice Cover and Atmospheric Circulation Patterns

Recent climatological trends and potential influences on forest phenology around western Lake Superior, USA

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