Total and Extreme Precipitation Changes over the Northeastern United States


TitleTotal and Extreme Precipitation Changes over the Northeastern United States
Publication TypeConference Paper and Presentation
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsWinter, JM, Huang, H, Osterberg, EC
Conference NameAmerican Association of Geographers Annual Meeting (AAG 2017)
Date Published2017/04
PublisherAmerican Association of Geographers (AAG)
Conference LocationBoston, MA
Abstract

Flooding is one of the primary causes of climate-related damage in the Northeastern United States. Multiple studies have found that the extreme precipitation events responsible for these floods have been increasing, and are increasing faster over the Northeast than in any other part of the United States. In this presentation we assess annual and seasonal changes in total and extreme precipitation in the Northeast over multiple time periods spanning 1901-2014, and compare results from station, gridded, and reanalysis data. Both observed total and extreme precipitation in the Northeast have increased significantly since 1901, with an accelerated increase in more recent decades and especially since 1996. Generally, coastal areas experience more total and extreme precipitation, and have seen larger increases in total and extreme precipitation, than inland areas. Averaged regionally, extreme precipitation has increased more than total precipitation; the percentage change in extreme precipitation (30.3% per decade) during 1979-2011 is almost six times larger than the increase in annual total precipitation (5.2% per decade). Since 1901, total precipitation has increased significantly in fall, while since 1979 total precipitation has increased significantly in summer. The increase in extreme precipitation 1996-2014 is driven by significant increases in spring and fall. Gridded observations perform well in reproducing averages of annual and seasonal total and extreme precipitation of station observations at both regional and station scales, whereas North American Regional Reanalysis generally underestimates annual and seasonal total and extreme precipitation relative to station observations.

URLhttp://app.core-apps.com/aagam2017/abstract/dcb181785f7fd70d2b1bd16d5a6dd4b4
Status: 
Published
Attributable Grant: 
BREE
Grant Year: 
Year1 (notified as published after reporting year submission to NSF) PublishedAfter
Acknowledged VT EPSCoR: 
Ack-Yes