Life Sciences Commons^™

Atmospheric Rivers Impacting Northern California Exhibit A Quasi-Decadal Frequency, Jacob Stuivenvolt-Allen, Shih-Yu Simon Wang, Zachary Johnson, Yoshimitsu Chikamoto

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Periods of water surplus and deficit in Northern California follow a pronounced quasi-decadal cycle. This cycle is largely driven by the frequency of atmospheric rivers (ARs), affecting the region’s wet and dry periods. Our analyses demonstrate that the quasi-decadal cycle of AR frequency relies on moisture transport associated with the position and intensity of the Aleutian Low. In observations, the Aleutian Low is shown to covary with tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies. A modeling experiment, which incorporates ocean observations from the equatorial Pacific into the fully coupled climate model, provides support that the quasi-decadal cycle of the Aleutian Low …