Open AccessThe Influence of Large-Scale Climate Variability on Winter Maximum Daily Precipitation over North America
Author(s) -
Xuebin Zhang,
Jiafeng Wang,
Francis W. Zwiers,
P. Y. Groisman
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of climate
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.315
H-Index - 287
eISSN - 1520-0442
pISSN - 0894-8755
DOI - 10.1175/2010jcli3249.1
Subject(s) - precipitation , pacific decadal oscillation , climatology , environmental science , north atlantic oscillation , extreme value theory , el niño southern oscillation , spatial distribution , generalized extreme value distribution , climate change , geography , geology , oceanography , meteorology , statistics , remote sensing , mathematics
The generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution is fitted to winter season daily maximum precipitation over North America, with indices representing El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) as predictors. It was found that ENSO and PDO have spatially consistent and statistically significant influences on extreme precipitation, while the influence of NAO is regional and is not field significant. The spatial pattern of extreme precipitation response to large-scale climate variability is similar to that of total precipitation but somewhat weaker in terms of statistical significance. An El Niño condition or high phase of PDO corresponds to a substantially increased likelihood of extreme precipitation over a vast region of southern North America but a decreased likelihood of extreme precipitation in the north, especially in the Great Plains and Canadian prairies and the Great Lakes/Ohio River valley.