<div dir="ltr">Dear NCAR post-docs,<div><br></div><div>Here's a reminder that <a href="http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/people/michael.alexander/">Mike Alexander</a> will be visiting Mesa Lab next Wednesday (1/27), and that he is available for one-on-one meetings with any interested post-docs and young scientists. </div><div><br></div><div>I'd encourage you to meet with Mike if you have any shared research interests. Send me an email (<a href="mailto:mckinnon@ucar.edu">mckinnon@ucar.edu</a>) to let me know if you have a time preference.</div><div><br></div><div>Mike's schedule for the day is</div><div><br></div><div>10:30-12:30: Individual meetings</div><div>12:30-1:30: Lunch at the Mesa Lab cafeteria</div><div>1:30-2:00: Talk prep</div><div>2:00-3:00: Seminar in the Mesa Lab main seminar room</div><div>3:15-5:15: Individual meetings</div><div><br></div><div>As a reminder, his talk will be on </div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px">“Moisture Sources for Heavy Precipitation in the Western US During Winter”</span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px">Abstract: </span><span style="font-size:12.8px">It is not obvious how the large volume of water necessary to sustain intense precipitation events in the intermountain west reach their destination given the distance from the moisture source in the Pacific and the complex topography that impedes the flow of moisture to that region. Since flow over mountain causes air to cool and thus hold less moisture, air parcels may take unique pathways to retain enough water to have intense precipitation events in states such as Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Utah. In general, it would be useful for scientists and water mangers, to better understand the synoptic and climatic processes that influence heavy precipitation events in the US intermountain west (IMW).</span></div><div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">We investigate extreme precipitation events during winter and their relation to water vapor transport, in the US intermountain west (taken here to be between the Sierra Nevada/Cascade Mountains and the Continental Divide). We employ air-parcel trajectory analysis, empirical orthogonal function (EOFs) and self organizing maps (SOMs) of integrated water vapor transport (IVT) and synoptic analyses to determine the moisture pathways and the broader set of processes that result in these intense precipitation events.</div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">The results indicate that moisture originating from the Pacific that leads to extreme precipitation in the IMW during winter take distinct pathways and is influenced by gaps in the Cascade (Oregon-Washington), Sierra-Nevada (California) and Peninsula Mountains (southern California through Baja California). The moisture transported along these routes appears to be the primary source for heavy precipitation for the mountain ranges in the IMW. The synoptic conditions associated with the dominant IVT patterns include a trough ridge couplet at 500 hPa, with the trough located northwest of the ridge where the associated circulation funnels moisture from the west-to-southwest through the mountain gaps and into the IMW.</div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">We will also briefly examine how ENSO & climate change may impact moisture transport into the western US.</div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">Cheers,</div><div style="font-size:12.8px">Karen</div><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Karen McKinnon<br><div>ASP post-doctoral fellow</div><div>National Center for Atmospheric Research</div><div>1850 Table Mesa Dr., Boulder, CO, 80305</div><div>(303) 497-1709</div><div><a href="http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~mckinnon/" target="_blank">http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~mckinnon/</a><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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