Snowfall variability in the eastern United States associated with the North Atlantic oscillation, Pacific-North American and El Niño/Southern oscillation teleconnection patterns

• Main Author: Stefl, David J.
• Other Authors: Coleman, Jill S.
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Snow > Northeastern States > History > 20th century; Snow > Northeastern States > History > 21st century; North Atlantic oscillation; Southern oscillation; Teleconnections (Climatology); Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/198496; http://liblink.bsu.edu/catkey/1773208

Teleconnection patterns wield a strong influence on regional climate variability. Several studies have linked North American hydroclimatology with the teleconnection strength and phase. The purpose of this study is to understand the spatiotemporal relationship between three large-scale modes of atmospheric variability and snowfall distributions in the eastern United States. In particular, snowfall responses were examined on a sub-regional level to the Pacific-North American (PNA), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns at different periods through the winter season using a similar methodology found in Smith and O’Brien (2001). Snowfall data were collected from the United States Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) for the years 1951-2012. In order to examine snowfall within season variability, each snowfall season was grouped into three, three-month overlapping periods: early, October, November, and December (OND); middle, December, January, and February (DJF); and late, February, March, and April (FMA). Average monthly teleconnection pattern index values for PNA, NAO, and ENSO were collected from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and averaged into corresponding periods. For each station, boxplots were created showing the winter snowfall range as well as the first, second (median), and third quartiles. An observational analysis was performed in which the station boxplots were then grouped according to one of three general median snowfall teleconnection pattern responses (e.g., high median snowfall in NAO negative phase). A non-parametric two sample t-test was employed to determine if the shifts in median snowfall between teleconnection pattern phases are statistically significant. The results of the statistical analysis revealed that although there were observable shifts in snowfall in relation to teleconnection pattern phase, the observed shift was not significant in an appreciable amount of stations. Department of ...