The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed
The precipitation history over the last century in the Catskill Mountains region that supplies water to New York City is studied. A severe drought occurred in the early to mid-1960s followed by a wet period that continues. Interannual variability of precipitation in the region is related to patterns...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Text |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Columbia University
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8st80k3 https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8ST80K3 |
id |
ftdatacite:10.7916/d8st80k3 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdatacite:10.7916/d8st80k3 2023-05-15T17:35:24+02:00 The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed Seager, Richard Kushnir, Yochanan Pederson, Neil Nakamura, Jennifer A. Jurburg, Stephanie Denisse 2012 https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8st80k3 https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8ST80K3 unknown Columbia University Meteorology Text Articles article-journal ScholarlyArticle 2012 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.7916/d8st80k3 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z The precipitation history over the last century in the Catskill Mountains region that supplies water to New York City is studied. A severe drought occurred in the early to mid-1960s followed by a wet period that continues. Interannual variability of precipitation in the region is related to patterns of atmospheric circulation variability in the midlatitude east Pacific–North America–west Atlantic sector with no link to the tropics. Associated SST variations in the Atlantic are consistent with being forced by the anomalous atmospheric flow rather than being causal. In winter and spring the 1960s drought was associated with a low pressure anomaly over the midlatitude North Atlantic Ocean and northerly subsiding flow over the greater Catskills region that would likely suppress precipitation. The cold SSTs offshore during the drought are consistent with atmospheric forcing of the ocean. The subsequent wet period was associated with high pressure anomalies over the Atlantic Ocean and ascending southerly flow over eastern North America favoring increased precipitation and a strengthening of the Northern Hemisphere storm track. Neither the drought nor the subsequent pluvial are simulated in sea surface temperature–forced atmosphere GCMs. The long-term wetting is also not simulated as a response to changes in radiative forcing by coupled models. It is concluded that past precipitation variability in the region, including the drought and pluvial, were most likely caused by internal atmospheric variability. Such events are unpredictable and a drought like the 1960s one could return while the long-term wetting trend need not continue—conclusions that have implications for management of New York City’s water resources. Text North Atlantic DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftdatacite |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology Seager, Richard Kushnir, Yochanan Pederson, Neil Nakamura, Jennifer A. Jurburg, Stephanie Denisse The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed |
topic_facet |
Meteorology |
description |
The precipitation history over the last century in the Catskill Mountains region that supplies water to New York City is studied. A severe drought occurred in the early to mid-1960s followed by a wet period that continues. Interannual variability of precipitation in the region is related to patterns of atmospheric circulation variability in the midlatitude east Pacific–North America–west Atlantic sector with no link to the tropics. Associated SST variations in the Atlantic are consistent with being forced by the anomalous atmospheric flow rather than being causal. In winter and spring the 1960s drought was associated with a low pressure anomaly over the midlatitude North Atlantic Ocean and northerly subsiding flow over the greater Catskills region that would likely suppress precipitation. The cold SSTs offshore during the drought are consistent with atmospheric forcing of the ocean. The subsequent wet period was associated with high pressure anomalies over the Atlantic Ocean and ascending southerly flow over eastern North America favoring increased precipitation and a strengthening of the Northern Hemisphere storm track. Neither the drought nor the subsequent pluvial are simulated in sea surface temperature–forced atmosphere GCMs. The long-term wetting is also not simulated as a response to changes in radiative forcing by coupled models. It is concluded that past precipitation variability in the region, including the drought and pluvial, were most likely caused by internal atmospheric variability. Such events are unpredictable and a drought like the 1960s one could return while the long-term wetting trend need not continue—conclusions that have implications for management of New York City’s water resources. |
format |
Text |
author |
Seager, Richard Kushnir, Yochanan Pederson, Neil Nakamura, Jennifer A. Jurburg, Stephanie Denisse |
author_facet |
Seager, Richard Kushnir, Yochanan Pederson, Neil Nakamura, Jennifer A. Jurburg, Stephanie Denisse |
author_sort |
Seager, Richard |
title |
The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed |
title_short |
The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed |
title_full |
The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed |
title_fullStr |
The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed |
title_full_unstemmed |
The 1960s Drought and the Subsequent Shift to a Wetter Climate in the Catskill Mountains Region of the New York City Watershed |
title_sort |
1960s drought and the subsequent shift to a wetter climate in the catskill mountains region of the new york city watershed |
publisher |
Columbia University |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8st80k3 https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8ST80K3 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7916/d8st80k3 |
_version_ |
1766134561385742336 |