Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns
Proxy-based studies suggest that the southwestern USA is affected by two types of summer drought, often termed Dust Bowl-type droughts and 1950s-type droughts. The spatial drought patterns of the two types are distinct. It has been suggested that they are related to different circulation characteris...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:f023a82beeff4c7abb9df32334520382 2023-05-15T17:29:42+02:00 Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns A.-M. Burgdorf S. Brönnimann J. Franke 2019-12-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-2053-2019 https://www.clim-past.net/15/2053/2019/cp-15-2053-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f023a82beeff4c7abb9df32334520382 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/cp-15-2053-2019 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://www.clim-past.net/15/2053/2019/cp-15-2053-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f023a82beeff4c7abb9df32334520382 undefined Climate of the Past, Vol 15, Pp 2053-2065 (2019) envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2019 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-2053-2019 2023-01-22T19:34:33Z Proxy-based studies suggest that the southwestern USA is affected by two types of summer drought, often termed Dust Bowl-type droughts and 1950s-type droughts. The spatial drought patterns of the two types are distinct. It has been suggested that they are related to different circulation characteristics, but a lack of observation-based data has precluded further studies. In this paper, we analyze multi-annual summer droughts in North America back to 1600 in tree-ring-based drought reconstructions and in a global, monthly three-dimensional reconstruction of the atmosphere. Using cluster analysis of drought indices, we confirm the two main drought types and find a similar catalog of events as previous studies. These two main types of droughts are then analyzed with respect to 2 m temperatures (T2m), sea-level pressure (SLP), and 500 hPa geopotential height (GPH) in boreal summer. 1950s-type droughts are related to a stronger wave train over the Pacific–North American sector than Dust Bowl-type droughts, whereas the latter show the imprint of a poleward-shifted jet and establishment of a Great Plains ridge. The 500 hPa GPH patterns of the two types differ significantly not only over the contiguous United States and Canada but also over the extratropical North Atlantic and the Pacific. Dust Bowl-type droughts are associated with positive GPH anomalies, while 1950s-type droughts exhibit strong negative GPH anomalies. In comparison with 1950s-type droughts, the Dust Bowl-type droughts are characterized by higher sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the northern North Atlantic. Results suggest that atmospheric circulation and SST characteristics not only over the Pacific but also over the extratropical North Atlantic affect the spatial pattern of North American droughts. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Unknown Canada Pacific Climate of the Past 15 6 2053 2065 |
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envir geo A.-M. Burgdorf S. Brönnimann J. Franke Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns |
topic_facet |
envir geo |
description |
Proxy-based studies suggest that the southwestern USA is affected by two types of summer drought, often termed Dust Bowl-type droughts and 1950s-type droughts. The spatial drought patterns of the two types are distinct. It has been suggested that they are related to different circulation characteristics, but a lack of observation-based data has precluded further studies. In this paper, we analyze multi-annual summer droughts in North America back to 1600 in tree-ring-based drought reconstructions and in a global, monthly three-dimensional reconstruction of the atmosphere. Using cluster analysis of drought indices, we confirm the two main drought types and find a similar catalog of events as previous studies. These two main types of droughts are then analyzed with respect to 2 m temperatures (T2m), sea-level pressure (SLP), and 500 hPa geopotential height (GPH) in boreal summer. 1950s-type droughts are related to a stronger wave train over the Pacific–North American sector than Dust Bowl-type droughts, whereas the latter show the imprint of a poleward-shifted jet and establishment of a Great Plains ridge. The 500 hPa GPH patterns of the two types differ significantly not only over the contiguous United States and Canada but also over the extratropical North Atlantic and the Pacific. Dust Bowl-type droughts are associated with positive GPH anomalies, while 1950s-type droughts exhibit strong negative GPH anomalies. In comparison with 1950s-type droughts, the Dust Bowl-type droughts are characterized by higher sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the northern North Atlantic. Results suggest that atmospheric circulation and SST characteristics not only over the Pacific but also over the extratropical North Atlantic affect the spatial pattern of North American droughts. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A.-M. Burgdorf S. Brönnimann J. Franke |
author_facet |
A.-M. Burgdorf S. Brönnimann J. Franke |
author_sort |
A.-M. Burgdorf |
title |
Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns |
title_short |
Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns |
title_full |
Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns |
title_fullStr |
Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns |
title_full_unstemmed |
Two types of North American droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns |
title_sort |
two types of north american droughts related to different atmospheric circulation patterns |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-2053-2019 https://www.clim-past.net/15/2053/2019/cp-15-2053-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f023a82beeff4c7abb9df32334520382 |
geographic |
Canada Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Canada Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 15, Pp 2053-2065 (2019) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/cp-15-2053-2019 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://www.clim-past.net/15/2053/2019/cp-15-2053-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f023a82beeff4c7abb9df32334520382 |
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undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-2053-2019 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2053 |
op_container_end_page |
2065 |
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1766124479327502336 |