Summary and synthesis of Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN) research in the interior of western Canada –  Part 1: Projected climate and meteorology

Stewart, Ronald E.; Szeto, Kit K.; Bonsal, Barrie R.; Hanesiak, John M.; Kochtubajda, Bohdan; Li, Yanping; Thériault, Julie M.; DeBeer, Chris M.; Tam, Benita Y.; Li, Zhenhua; Liu, Zhuo; Bruneau, Jennifer A.; Duplessis, Patrick; Marinier, Sébastien; Matte, Dominic

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3437-2019

Articles | Volume 23, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3437-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Understanding and predicting Earth system and hydrological...

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3437-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 8

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

23 Aug 2019

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 23 Aug 2019

Summary and synthesis of Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN) research in the interior of western Canada – Part 1: Projected climate and meteorology

Ronald E. Stewart, Kit K. Szeto, Barrie R. Bonsal, John M. Hanesiak, Bohdan Kochtubajda, Yanping Li, Julie M. Thériault, Chris M. DeBeer, Benita Y. Tam, Zhenhua Li, Zhuo Liu, Jennifer A. Bruneau, Patrick Duplessis, Sébastien Marinier, and Dominic Matte

Data sets

Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 data access Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/projects/esgf-llnl/

NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 1 NOAA ESRL PSD https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.html

Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index data Environment and Climate Change Canada http://climate-scenarios.canada.ca/?page=spei

Data access North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program https://www.narccap.ucar.edu/data/access.html

Short summary

This article examines future atmospheric-related phenomena across the interior of western Canada associated with a business-as-usual climate scenario. Changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation and extent of warming vary with season, and these generally lead to increases, especially after mid-century, in factors associated with winter snowstorms, freezing rain, drought, forest fires, as well as atmospheric forcing of spring floods, although not necessarily summer convection.