Researchers take a retrospective look to see if precipitation and flooding due to El Niño could have been predicted a priori.
precipitation
Modeling Weather over Mountainous Terrain
Scientists use high-resolution models to study how the jagged terrain of the Earth's mountains influences precipitation.
Does El Niño Intensity Affect Precipitation in California?
Modeling experiments demonstrate that strong El Niños greatly increase odds for wet winters over California's principal watersheds compared to impacts of weak and moderate El Niños.
Soil Crusts Play a Dual Role in Desertification
Rain falling on bare soil can form a hard crust that prevents further infiltration. But do these crusts worsen land degradation or help to prevent it?
Aerosols Make Cumulus Clouds Brighter but Shorter Lived
Computer simulations show that although adding aerosol particles to clouds can make them more reflective, the cooling effect from clouds is largely counterbalanced by a reduction in overall cloud cover.
Precipitation Data Key to Food Security and Public Health
2015 Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Applications Workshop; Hyattsville, Maryland, 9–10 June 2015
Implications of Future Changes in the Asian Monsoon's Intensity
AGU Chapman Conference on the Evolution of the Asian Monsoon and Its Impact on Landscape, Environment, and Society; Hong Kong, China, 14–18 June 2015
Vanishing Sea Ice Could Trigger More Arctic Precipitation
A promising method for evaluating Arctic precipitation predicts retreating sea ice will increase snow and rainfall in the Arctic and counteract some of global climate change's effects regionally.
Forecast Versus Reality: High-Resolution Weather Prediction
Researchers test the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model with real-life observational data to evaluate forecast accuracy.
Improving Indian Summer Monsoon Prediction
A new study analyzes temperature and moisture variations in different layers of the atmosphere to improve forecasting of Indian summer monsoon precipitation patterns.