The relationship between Mid-west precipitation rates, teleconnections and blocking in the Eastern and Central Pacific
Abstract
An integral aspect of accurate precipitation outlooks are timely forecasts of teleconnective phase transitions (i.e., the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)). Through executing comprehensive synoptic analyses of twenty-seven rainfall events between 2000 and 2014, results should bolster the integration of climatic signals in forecasting. An integral part of this work is evaluating characteristics of the dominant synoptic modes: low pressure systems (i.e., extra-tropical cyclones or shortwave troughs), tropical cyclones, and quasi-stationary frontal boundaries. Other studied parameters include: 300-mb height and divergence, 400 to 250-mb potential vorticity coupled with potential vorticity advection and 300-mb streamlines, 500-mb height and absolute vorticity coupled with 700 to 400-mb differential vorticity advection, 850-mb height/moisture transport/[omega]e, and precipitable water. Lastly, synoptic analyses were conducted for every event at 250 mb, 300 mb, 500 mb, 700 mb, 850 mb, and the surface.
Degree
M.S.
Thesis Department
Rights
OpenAccess.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.