A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability
Abstract Snowfall is a critical element of natural disasters to the United States (US) with strong climatic and socioeconomic influences. Meanwhile, snowfall acts as a driving force to the US water supplies for agriculture, drinking water and hydropower. However, so far, what factors influence the U...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
IOP Publishing
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d/pdf |
id |
crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d 2024-09-15T18:23:28+00:00 A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability Liu, Shizuo Hu, Shineng National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d/pdf unknown IOP Publishing http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Environmental Research Letters volume 19, issue 7, page 074021 ISSN 1748-9326 journal-article 2024 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d 2024-07-29T04:15:15Z Abstract Snowfall is a critical element of natural disasters to the United States (US) with strong climatic and socioeconomic influences. Meanwhile, snowfall acts as a driving force to the US water supplies for agriculture, drinking water and hydropower. However, so far, what factors influence the US snowfall variations and how these factors change under global warming remain unclear. Here, we found that large-scale influences of the early-winter US snowfall experienced a shift from the Pacific to the Atlantic side around 2000, through observational analysis and climate model simulations. The Pacific/North American pattern was identified as a dominant driver of the early-winter US snowfall before 2000, but its impact became much weaker in the 21st century as its associated western North American cell shifted northward away from the US. Instead, the tropical and subpolar North Atlantic surface temperature has been influencing the early-winter US snowfall variations via teleconnections after 2000. This changed influence of US snowfall around 2000 is demonstrated to be related to the observed global warming pattern since the 1950s. Our study provides new perspectives in understanding large-scale snowfall pattern and variability and its connection to the global warming pattern. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic IOP Publishing Environmental Research Letters |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IOP Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crioppubl |
language |
unknown |
description |
Abstract Snowfall is a critical element of natural disasters to the United States (US) with strong climatic and socioeconomic influences. Meanwhile, snowfall acts as a driving force to the US water supplies for agriculture, drinking water and hydropower. However, so far, what factors influence the US snowfall variations and how these factors change under global warming remain unclear. Here, we found that large-scale influences of the early-winter US snowfall experienced a shift from the Pacific to the Atlantic side around 2000, through observational analysis and climate model simulations. The Pacific/North American pattern was identified as a dominant driver of the early-winter US snowfall before 2000, but its impact became much weaker in the 21st century as its associated western North American cell shifted northward away from the US. Instead, the tropical and subpolar North Atlantic surface temperature has been influencing the early-winter US snowfall variations via teleconnections after 2000. This changed influence of US snowfall around 2000 is demonstrated to be related to the observed global warming pattern since the 1950s. Our study provides new perspectives in understanding large-scale snowfall pattern and variability and its connection to the global warming pattern. |
author2 |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Liu, Shizuo Hu, Shineng |
spellingShingle |
Liu, Shizuo Hu, Shineng A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability |
author_facet |
Liu, Shizuo Hu, Shineng |
author_sort |
Liu, Shizuo |
title |
A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability |
title_short |
A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability |
title_full |
A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability |
title_fullStr |
A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability |
title_full_unstemmed |
A 21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter United States snowfall variability |
title_sort |
21st century shift in the mechanisms of the early-winter united states snowfall variability |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d/pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters volume 19, issue 7, page 074021 ISSN 1748-9326 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4e4d |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
_version_ |
1810463683056238592 |