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Weather and Climate Variability and Extremes in the Southeastern United...
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Weather and Climate Variability and Extremes in the Southeastern United States

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Climatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2019) | Viewed by 17559

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Rosana Nieto Ferreira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geography and Planning, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
Interests: weather and climate modeling; tropical meteorology; precipitation variability and organization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Because of its location in the subtropics, the southeastern United States (SE US) is affected by a variety of weather and climate phenomena of tropical, subtropical, and midlatitude origin. Home to more than 80 million people and some of the fastest growing metropolitan areas of the US, the SE US is a hotspot of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the United States, and the impacts of year-round weather and climate hazards are increasing. The region is vulnerable to hurricanes, extreme heat events, springtime tornado outbreaks, wintertime blizzards and ice storms, as well as flooding and severe drought. The ongoing sea-level rise further aggravates the vulnerability of the extensive coastline of the SE US to year-round coastal storms and king tide events. Large-scale phenomena such as El Niño, the Madden–Julian oscillation, the North American oscillation, the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, as well as the variability of the North Atlantic subtropical high and its associated atmospheric rivers, all play a role in modulating weather phenomena in the SE US at various timescales.

This Special Issue focuses on advancing our understanding of climate and weather variability and extremes in the SE US, to help guide ongoing mitigation and adaptation efforts in dealing with the increasing challenges faced by the region. We invite contributions on all aspects of climate and weather of the SE US, including observations and modeling of phenomena that affect the region on timescales ranging from diurnal to centennial.

Dr. Rosana Nieto Ferreira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • regional climate
  • weather extremes
  • precipitation systems
  • southeastern United States
  • observations
  • modeling

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4426 KiB  
Article
Mechanisms for Springtime Onset of Isolated Precipitation across the Southeastern United States
by Rosana Nieto Ferreira and Thomas M. Rickenbach
Atmosphere 2021, 12(2), 213; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12020213 - 04 Feb 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1352
Abstract
This study uses four-year radar-based precipitation organization and reanalysis datasets to study the mechanisms that lead to the abrupt springtime onset of precipitation associated with isolated storms in the Southeast United States (SE US). Although the SE US receives relatively constant precipitation year-round, [...] Read more.
This study uses four-year radar-based precipitation organization and reanalysis datasets to study the mechanisms that lead to the abrupt springtime onset of precipitation associated with isolated storms in the Southeast United States (SE US). Although the SE US receives relatively constant precipitation year-round, previous work demonstrated a “hidden” summertime maximum in isolated precipitation features (IPF) whose annual cycle resembles that of monsoon climates in the subtropics. In the SE US, IPF rain abruptly ramps up in May and lasts until sometime between late August and early October. This study suggests that the onset of the IPF season in the SE US is brought about by a combination of slow thermodynamic processes and fast dynamic triggers, as follows. First, in the weeks prior to IPF onset, a gradual seasonal build-up of convective available potential energy (CAPE) occurs in the Gulf of Mexico. Then, in one-to-two pentads prior to onset, the upper-tropospheric jet stream shifts northward, favoring the presence of slow-moving frontal systems in the SE US. This poleward shift in the jet stream location in turn allows the establishment of the North Atlantic subtropical high western ridge over the SE US which, with associated poleward transport of high CAPE air from the Gulf of Mexico, leads to the establishment of the warm-season regime of IPF precipitation in the SE US. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weather and Climate Variability and Extremes in the Southeastern United States)
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19 pages, 4852 KiB  
Article
Drop-Size Distribution Variations Associated with Different Storm Types in Southeast Texas
by Larry J. Hopper, Jr., Courtney Schumacher, Karen Humes and Aaron Funk
Atmosphere 2020, 11(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11010008 - 20 Dec 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2748
Abstract
Drop-size distributions (DSDs) provide important microphysical information about rainfall and are used in rainfall estimates from radar. This study utilizes a four-year DSD dataset of 163 rain events obtained using a Joss–Waldvogel impact disdrometer located in southeast Texas. A seasonal comparison of the [...] Read more.
Drop-size distributions (DSDs) provide important microphysical information about rainfall and are used in rainfall estimates from radar. This study utilizes a four-year DSD dataset of 163 rain events obtained using a Joss–Waldvogel impact disdrometer located in southeast Texas. A seasonal comparison of the DSD data shows that small (~1 mm diameter) drops occur more frequently in winter and fall, whereas summer and spring months see an increase in the relative frequency of medium and large (~>2 mm diameter) drops, with notable interannual variability in all seasons. Each rain event is classified by dynamic forcing and radar precipitation structure to more directly link environmental and storm organization properties to storm microphysics. Cold fronts and upper-level disturbances account for 80% of the rain events, whereas warm fronts, weakly forced situations, and tropical cyclones comprise the other 20%. Warm frontal storms and upper-level disturbances have smaller drops compared to the climatological DSD for southeast Texas, whereas the more dynamically vigorous cold fronts and weakly forced environments have larger drops. Tropical cyclones generally produce smaller drops than the climatology, but their DSD anomalies are sensitive to what part of the storm is sampled. Regardless of dynamic forcing, storms with precipitation structures that are mostly deep convective or stratiform rain formed from deep convection have larger drops, whereas stratiform rain formed from non-deep convection has smaller drops. Reflectivity-rain rate (Z-R) relationships that account for dynamic forcing and precipitation structures improve rainfall estimates compared to climatological Z-R relationships despite a wide spread in Z-R relationships by storm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weather and Climate Variability and Extremes in the Southeastern United States)
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15 pages, 5109 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Synoptic-Scale Air Mass Conditions on Seasonal Precipitation Patterns over North Carolina
by Christopher Zarzar and Jamie Dyer
Atmosphere 2019, 10(10), 624; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10100624 - 16 Oct 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3145
Abstract
This paper characterizes the influence of synoptic-scale air mass conditions on the spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation in North Carolina over a 16-year period (2003–2018). National Center for Environmental Prediction Stage IV multi-sensor precipitation estimates were used to describe seasonal variations in [...] Read more.
This paper characterizes the influence of synoptic-scale air mass conditions on the spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation in North Carolina over a 16-year period (2003–2018). National Center for Environmental Prediction Stage IV multi-sensor precipitation estimates were used to describe seasonal variations in precipitation in the context of prevailing air mass conditions classified using the spatial synoptic classification system. Spatial analyses identified significant clustering of high daily precipitation amounts distributed along the east side of the Appalachian Mountains and along the Coastal Plains. Significant and heterogeneous clustering was prevalent in summer months and tended to coincide with land cover boundaries and complex terrain. The summer months were dominated by maritime tropical air mass conditions, whereas dry moderate air mass conditions prevailed in the winter, spring, and fall. Between the three geographic regions of North Carolina, the highest precipitation amounts were received in western North Carolina during the winter and spring, and in eastern North Carolina in the summer and fall. Central North Carolina received the least amount of precipitation; however, there was substantial variability between regions due to prevailing air mass conditions. There was an observed shift toward warmer and more humid air mass conditions in the winter, spring, and fall months throughout the study period (2003–2018), indicating a shift toward air mass conditions conducive to higher daily average rain rates in North Carolina. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weather and Climate Variability and Extremes in the Southeastern United States)
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15 pages, 2030 KiB  
Article
Teleconnection of Regional Drought to ENSO, PDO, and AMO: Southern Florida and the Everglades
by Anteneh Z. Abiy, Assefa M. Melesse and Wossenu Abtew
Atmosphere 2019, 10(6), 295; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10060295 - 30 May 2019
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6530
Abstract
Drought variability is associated with global oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections driven by, among others, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Climate teleconnections with a region’s rainfall, with drought and flooding implications, should be part [...] Read more.
Drought variability is associated with global oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections driven by, among others, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Climate teleconnections with a region’s rainfall, with drought and flooding implications, should be part of short- and long-term water management planning and operations. In this study, the link between drought and climatic drivers was assessed by using historical data from 110 years of regional rainfall in southern Florida and the Everglades. The objective was to evaluate historical drought and its link with global oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) assesses regional historical drought in 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-month periods. Each of the SPIs was used to analyze the association of different magnitudes of drought with ENSO, AMO, and PDO. Historical drought evaluated in different time windows indicated that there is a wet and dry cycle in the regional hydrology, where the area is currently in the wet phase of the fluctuation since 1995 with some drought years in between. Regional historical rainfall anomaly and drought index relationships with each driver and combination of drivers were statistically evaluated. The impact of ENSO fluctuation is limited to short-period rainfall variability, whereas long-period influence is from AMO and PDO. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weather and Climate Variability and Extremes in the Southeastern United States)
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19 pages, 51915 KiB  
Article
Warm Season Hydroclimatic Variability and Change in the Appalachian Region of the Southeastern U.S. from 1950 to 2018
by Timothy Kinlaw, Johnathan W. Sugg and L. Baker Perry
Atmosphere 2019, 10(5), 289; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10050289 - 24 May 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3244
Abstract
The hydroclimatology of the southeastern U.S. is changing, with increased precipitation, intensified summer-to-fall rainfall, and prolonged dry periods. However, research has yet to determine whether these trends are present in the southern Appalachian Mountains, which contain the most topographic and hydroclimatic variability across [...] Read more.
The hydroclimatology of the southeastern U.S. is changing, with increased precipitation, intensified summer-to-fall rainfall, and prolonged dry periods. However, research has yet to determine whether these trends are present in the southern Appalachian Mountains, which contain the most topographic and hydroclimatic variability across the region and serve as a valuable resource for growing population centers. This study examines warm season hydroclimatic variability and changes from 1950 to 2018 using the Global Historical Climatological Network (GHCN) daily data record. Daily rainfall is classified according to different intensities, ranging from light to heavy, and a Mann-Kendall test is used to determine the trend at each station. Additionally, a Spearman’s rank correlation test is performed to test for significant linkages between precipitation class frequencies and large-scale modes of atmospheric variability (Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, Caribbean SST Index, Pacific/North American Pattern). The results suggest that dry days became less common and light precipitation became more common across the southern Appalachian region. Similarly, the length of dry spells became shorter at most elevations. Teleconnection patterns are linked to the variability of precipitation class frequencies, particularly with dry days and light precipitation. In conclusion, this research reveals the unique character of hydroclimatic variability and change across the southern Appalachian region in the context of the broader southeastern U.S. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weather and Climate Variability and Extremes in the Southeastern United States)
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