More frequent extreme precipitation ahead for western North America
Friday, April 1, 2016 - 06:00
in Earth & Climate
It may sound like a routine forecast, but it's not. Results from a careful modeling study conducted by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that Western North America and Canada can expect a 28 percent increase in the number of extreme precipitation days, thanks to global climate warming. In addition, the wintertime storm systems that often carry those extreme rainy days will hit the coast 35 percent more often in the future. The primary mechanism for these numbers is atmospheric rivers, narrow bands of tropical moisture streaming each winter season toward the US West Coast.