Abstract
The Mackenzie River Basin exhibits extremely large interannual variability in its cold-season atmospheric temperatures while some of the strongest warming signals in the Northern Hemisphere have also been observed over the Basin. To understand these observed thermal characteristics and behavior of the region, the atmospheric enthalpy budget for the Basin during 1970–99 was studied using the NCEP reanalysis dataset. Adiabatic warming associated with mean subsidence was found to be more important than net horizontal temperature advection in governing the heat budget during the cold-season. Processes responsible for the development of extreme warm/cold winters were investigated in conjunction with the composite atmospheric heat budget and large-scale atmospheric conditions that prevailed during the anomalous winters. The large temperature variability is linked to the interactions between the North Pacific airflow and the regional environment, notably the Western Cordillera. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for winter temperature variability facilitates the interpretation of temperature trends and offers an explanation of the cold-season temperature bias found in some climate modeling results.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bannon PR (1992) A model of Rocky Mountain lee cyclogenesis. J Atmos Sci 49:1510–1522
Bell BD, Bosart LF (1988) Appalachian cold-air damming. Mon Weather Rev 116:137–161
Cao Z, Stewart RE, Hogg WD (2007) Extreme winter warming over the Mackenzie Basin: observations and causes. (Vol. I, this book)
Curry J (1983) On the formation of continental polar air. J Atmos Sci 40:2278–2292
Davis CA (1997) The modification of baroclinic waves by the Rocky Mountains. J Atmos Sci 54:848–868
Finnis J (2005) Representation of the atmospheric hydrologic cycle over the Arctic in CCSM3. 8 th Conf on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography, Jan.10–14, 2005, San Diego, CA, USA
Houghton JT, Ding Y, Griggs DJ, Noguer M, van der Linden PJ, Xiaosu D (2001) Climate change: the scientific basis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Ioannidou L, Yau MK (2007) Climatological analysis of the Mackenzie River Basin anticyclones: structure, evolution, and interannual variability. (Vol. I, this book)
Kalnay E, Kanamitsu M, Kistler R, Collins W, Deaven D, Gandin L, Iredell M, Saha S, White G, Woollen J, Zhu Y, Chelliah M, Ebisuzaki W, Higgins W, Janowiak J, Mo KC, Ropelewski C, Wang J, Leetmaa A, Reynolds R, Jenne R, Joseph D (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. B Am Meteorol Soc 77: 437–471
Kistler, R, Kalnay E, Collins W, Saha S, White G, Woollen J, Chelliah M, Ebisuzaki W, Kanamitsu M, Kousky V, Van Den Dool H, Jenne R, Fiorino M (2001) The NCEP-NCAR 50-year reanalysis: monthly means CD-ROM documentation. B Am Meteorol Soc 82:247–267
Lackmann GM, Gyakum JR, Benoit R (1998) Moisture transport diagnosis of a wintertime precipitation event in the Mackenzie River Basin. Mon Weather Rev 126:668–691
Lin Y-L (2005) Dynamics of orographic precipitation. 2005 Yearbook of science and technology, McGraw Hill, pp 248–250
MacKay MD, Seglenieks F, Verseghy D, Soulis ED, Snelgrove KR, Walker A, Szeto K (2003) Modeling Mackenzie Basin surface water balance during CAGES with the Canadian Regional Climate Model. J Hydrometeorol 4:748–767
MacKay MD, Bartlett PA, Chan E, Verseghy D, Soulis ED, Seglenieks FR (2007) The MAGS regional climate modeling system: CRCM-MAGS. (Vol. I, this book)
Mati I (2006) A comparison study of two regional atmospheric models over the Mackenzie Basin. M.Sc. thesis, McGill University
Mantua NJ, Hare SR, Wallace JM, Francis RC (1997) A Pacific decadal climate oscillation with impacts on salmon production. B Am Meteorol Soc 78:1069–1079
Mo R, Fyfe J, Derome J (1998) Phase-locked and asymmetric correlations of the wintertime atmospheric patterns with the ENSO. Atmos Ocean 36:213–239
Overland JE, Adams JM, Bond NA (1999) Decadal variability of the Aleutian Low and its relation to high latitude circulation. J Climate 12:1542–1548
Palmen E, Newton CW (1969) Atmospheric circulation systems. Academic Press
Palmer TN (1998) Nonlinear dynamics and climate change: Rossby’s legacy. B AmMeteorol Soc 79:1411–1423
Peixoto JP, Oort AH (1992) Physics of climate. American Institute of Physics
Peltier W (1994) Ice age paleotopography. Science 265:195–201
Renwick JA, Wallace JM (1996) Relationship between North Pacific wintertime blocking El Nino, and the PNA Pattern. Mon Weather Rev 124:2071–2076
Serreze MC, Walsh JE, Chapin III FS, Osterkamp T, Dyurgerov M, Romanovsky V, Oechel WC, Morison J, Zhang T, Barry RG (2000) Observational evidence of recent change in the northern high-latitude environment. Climatic Change 46:159–207
Smirnov VV, Moore WK (2001) Short-term and seasonal variability of the atmospheric water vapor transport through the Mackenzie River Basin. J Hydrometeorol 2:441–452
Stewart RE, Bussières N, Cao Z, Cho HR, Hudak DR, Kochtubajda B, Leighton H, Louie YT, MacKay MD, Marsh P, Strong GS, Szeto KK, Burford JE (2002) Hydrometeorological features of the Mackenzie Basin climate system during the 1994/1995 water year: a period of record low discharge. Atmos Ocean 40:257–278
Stewart RE, Burford JE (2002) On the features of clouds occurring over the Mackenzie River Basin. J Geophys Res AAC18:1–13
Stewart RE, Burford JE (2002) On the features of clouds occurring over the Mackenzie River basin. J Geophys Res AAC18:1–13
Straus DM, Shukla J (2002) Does ENSO force PNA? J Climate 15:2340–2358
Szeto KK, (2007) On the variability and change of cold-season temperatures in Northwest Canada. J Climate (in press)
Szeto KK, Stewart RE, Yau MK, Gyakum J (2007a) The Mackenzie climate system: a synthesis of MAGS atmospheric research. (Vol. I, this book)
Szeto KK, Tran H, MacKay M, Crawford R, Stewart RE (2007b) Assessing water and energy budgets for the Mackenzie Basin. (Vol. I, this book)
Tanaka HL, Milkovich MF (1990) A heat budget analysis of the polar troposphere in and around Alaska during abnormal winter of 1998/89. Mon Weather Rev 118:1628–1639
Wallace JM, Gutzler DS (1981) Teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the northern hemisphere winter. Mon Weather Rev 109:784–812
Wexler H (1936) Cooling in the lower atmosphere and the structure of polar continental air. Mon Weather Rev 64:122–136
Woo MK, Thorne R, Szeto KK (2006) Reinterpretation of streamflow trends based on shifts in large-scale atmospheric circulation. Hydrol Process 20:3995–4003
Zhang X, Vincent LA, Hogg WD, Niitsoo A (2000) Temperature and precipitation trends in Canada during the 20th Century. Atmos Ocean 38:395–429
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Szeto, K.K. (2008). Variability of Cold-Season Temperatures in the Mackenzie Basin. In: Woo, Mk. (eds) Cold Region Atmospheric and Hydrologic Studies. The Mackenzie GEWEX Experience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73936-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73936-4_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-73935-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-73936-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)