Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

2025 March - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All, March and April were very eventful weather months across the state. We're starting to work through April data but below are the highlights for March. March continued the pattern of extremes in weather that Tennessee has seen in 2025, with high winds and fires, record-setting rainfall, and severe storms impacting the state. Several small to moderate sized grass, brush, and forest fires popped up around the state driven by days with high winds and low relative humidity in early March. One of the largest fires was in Sevier County, where the Pittman Center/Webb Mountain fire burned over 1,000 …

2025 February - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All,

February 2025 brought a wide range of weather to Tennessee including severe storms, snow, flooding, and large temperature fluctuations. Warm temperatures in the first week of the month brought a taste of spring after a much colder than normal January across the state, with high temperatures climbing into the upper 70’s for many locations on February 4th. This warm airmass set the stage for severe weather to impact northern areas of the state on February 6th, with six reports of tornadoes (four EF1 tornadoes and two EF2 tornadoes). Cooler and wetter weather then returned to the state for …

2025 January - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Rain-On-Snow Event Climatology And Hydrological Impacts In The Connecticut River Watershed, Samuel Davidson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Rain-on-snow events, characterized by rain falling on existing snowpack, have the potential to bring about significant hydrological and environmental impacts including snowmelt, flooding, landslides, and other natural hazards. Despite prior evidence suggesting the Connecticut River Watershed has endured socioeconomic and environmental setbacks due to rain-on-snow events in the past, limited prior research has been performed on the role of rain-onsnow events within the region’s hydroclimatology. Gaining a deeper understanding of the occurrence and impacts of such events would provide valuable insights for risk and water resource managers. The purpose of this research was to create a climatology of rain-on-snow events …

Statistical Analysis Of Climate Trends And Variability In Tarrant County Using Annual, Decade, And Three-Decade Time Periods, Quinnton Debolt

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

This study is a statistical analysis of climate trends within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex according to several time-scale models to understand how the climate for the locality has changed and to provide a basis for projections of what future climate might look like. Trends in mean temperature and precipitation for North Central Texas generally correlate with corresponding global trends linked to natural variability and anthropogenic-induced climate change. Temperature rises in this region annually by 0.08°C and by 0.22°C for a three-decade average. Seasonal increases in three-decadal averages of temperature for North Central Texas relative to the average of the reference …

Multi-Centennial Spatial Coherency Among Atlantic Tropical Cyclones From Simulated And Reconstructed Storm Records, Richard M. Sullivan, Elizabeth Wallace, Sylvia Dee, Gabiel A. Vecchi, Wenchang Yang, Kerry Emanuel

OES Faculty Publications

Proxy-based reconstructions of long-term Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) variability reveal low-frequency oscillations in regional TC landfalls over the Common Era. However, the limited spatial coverage and increased uncertainty of the proxy records complicates assessments of this feature. Here we present a new multi-ensemble set of synthetic TCs downscaled from the Last Millennium Reanalysis project, which is based on sea surface temperatures that more accurately reflect past conditions. Throughout ensemble members, there are coherent multi-centennial shifts in landfalls with persistent intervals of increased (decreased) occurrence along the eastern US concurrent with inverse activity in the southwest Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, …

The Future Of Shipping At The Biodiversity-Climate Nexus : Round Table Report, Mary S. Wisz, Fabio Berzaghi, Mikaela Gomez, Maud C. Quinzin, Renis Auma Ojwala, Emily Nuckolls

Reports

This report presents the outcomes of a cross-disciplinary Round Table hosted by the World Maritime University (WMU) from May 13-15, 2024, in Malmö, Sweden. The event brought together 51 experts from academia, industry, NGOs, and international organizations, including the IMO, to explore shipping’s role at the biodiversity-climate nexus. The Round Table had a particular focus on the impacts of shipping that are currently unregulated or under-regulated, and opportunities to address biodiversity loss and pollution as the sector decarbonizes. The report highlights the need to apply comprehensive, ecosystem-based approaches to effectively manage shipping's impacts, including cumulative impacts, on the environment, people, …

Quantifying Links Between Phytoplankton Physiology And The Environment, Gabrielle M. Armin

Open Access Dissertations

Phytoplankton are microscopic, primary producers in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. They are key links in global biogeochemical cycles, converting inorganic compounds into bioavailable nutrients which fuel fisheries. Through photosynthesis, phytoplankton play an essential role in the carbon cycle and marine biological pump, drawing carbon from the atmosphere, which is eventually sequestered in the oceans, regulating our Earth’s climate. Due to their influential role in large scale processes, there have been many efforts to characterize and quantify phytoplankton impacts to ecosystem health and global nutrient cycles. Often, phytoplankton physiology has been highly simplified in global or ecosystem models, limiting their representation to …

A Wall Of Smoke: Understanding The Drivers Of The June 2023 Canadian Wildfire Smoke Event For New York City, Gregory S. Randazzo

Dissertations and Theses

The 2023 Canadian wildfire season was notable for its extent and the dense smoke it produced. Motivated by the resulting air quality impacts in the New York City region, we explore how the total particulate matter output from the Quebec fires influenced PM2.5 concentrations downstream in New York City. Using injection height data from the Regional Advanced Baseline Imager + VIIRS Emissions dataset, we relate the tropospheric injection heights of the fires with the broader synoptic context and surface PM2.5 concentrations. Using data from the NYS Mesonet Profiler Network, radiosondes, and ERA5 reanalysis, we document the connection between an anomalous …

2024 - Tennessee Annual Climate Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

2024 December - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All,

December was relatively warm and wet for West Tennessee, while areas further east were closer to average. The main weather and climate stories of December 2024 included the strong blast of cold air early in the month that led to widespread light snowfall and record cold temperatures from December 3-6, and two cold fronts that brought strong thunderstorms, localized flash flooding, some small hail, and strong winds to the state on December 18 and December 28-29. Heavy rains on the 29th led to flash flooding and closure of roads and temporary bridges in parts of Carter County that …

2024 November - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

2024 October - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All,

Attached is the October monthly climate summary. It was both warmer and drier than normal across most of the state. Without some rainfall on Halloween, it likely would have been the driest October on record for many locations. Farmers, especially in southern Middle Tennessee, continued to suffer from severe and extreme drought conditions that started back in June. The weather station at the Nashville International Airport, with data from 1940 through today, had its 4th longest dry streak, with 26 days in a row without precipitation from September 30 – October 25, 2024. Daily high temperature records were …

2024 September - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All,

September 2024 is a month we won't be forgetting any time soon. We started off continuing a very dry pattern with Extreme Drought (D3) expanding in Middle Tennessee until receiving some relief from Hurricane Francine. Extreme Drought peaked for this area in the September 10th release of the US Drought Monitor (USDM), while expansion of D3 continued through the September 24th release of the USDM. September 24th was also when a tornado formed in Hancock County - the first September tornado on record in East Tennessee. The biggest story of the month was Hurricane Helene and its many …

2024 August - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Onset Of Antarctic Glaciation At The Eocene-Oligocene Transition In The Weddell Sea And Its Impact On Ocean Circulation, Victoria Hojnacki

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The Eocene – Oligocene Transition (EOT) (34 Ma) represents a greenhouse to icehouse climate transition that is marked by the appearance of permanent ice sheets in Antarctica. Studying this period of climate change allows us to understand how different Earth systems reacted under changing atmospheric CO₂ conditions. Though the timing of the development of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is well supported, the development of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is still up for debate. Ocean Drilling Program Site 696 is the only paleoarchive of the EOT in the Weddell Sea region and offers an opportunity to better constrain the …

2024 July - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Supplementary Files For: "Interactive Modeling Of Bear Lake Elevations In A Future Climate", Benjamin D. Shaw, Scout Jarman, Brennan Bean, Kevin R. Moon, Wei Zhang, Nathan Butler, Tommy Bolton, April Knight, Emeline Haroldsen, Abby Funk, Rebecca Higbee

Browse all Datasets

The water level, or elevation, of Bear Lake has a significant impact on agriculture, power, infrastructure, and recreation for communities around the lake. Climatological variables, such as precipitation, temperature, and snowfall, all have an impact on the elevation of Bear Lake. As the climate changes due to greenhouse gas emissions, the typical behaviors of these climate variables change, leading to new behaviors in Bear Lake elevation. Because of the importance of Bear Lake, it is vital to be able to model and understand how Bear Lake's elevation may change in the face of different climate scenarios and to gain further …

2024 June - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Resource Scarcity Caused By Environmental Changes: Driving Factor In Terrorism Attacks In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Amaris Bustamante

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Climate change, resource scarcity, and terrorist attacks are ever-growing crises that disproportionately impact different states. They are crises that can impact the stability and resilience of humanity in the following decades if they are not addressed and mitigated. This study addresses the impact of resource scarcity caused by climate change that can then serve as a driving force in terrorist attacks in climate-sensitive and conflict-prone states. The objective of this mixed-methods study is to identify the correlation between climate changes that lead to resource scarcity such as rainfall and surface temperatures with terrorist attacks when taking into consideration other demographic, …

Lake Mead: A Living Museum, Marley Salveter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lake Mead, the largest man-made water project in the nation and a prolific source of electricity, irrigation, and recreation for much of the western population, is currently experiencing a drastic transformation. Amid the ongoing water crisis parching the west, the once overflowing reservoir is consistently shrinking, descending into depths historically uncharted.

While serving as a bleak demonstration of climate change’s effects, the body of water is simultaneously assuming an alternative role that may be less apparent to the public. As water levels decline, Lake Mead is actively metamorphosing into a “Living Museum”, by gradually unveiling previously submerged artifacts. As a …

2024 May - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Net Fluxes Of Broadband Shortwave And Photosynthetically Active Radiation Complement Ndvi And Near Infrared Reflectance Of Vegetation To Explain Gross Photosynthesis Variability Across Ecosystems And Climate, Kanishka Mallick, Joseph Verfaillie, Tianxin Wang, Ariane Arias Ortiz, Daphne Szutu, Koong Yi, Yanghui Kang, Robert Shortt, Tian Hu, Mauro Sulis, Zoltan Szantoi, Gilles Boulet, Joshua B. Fisher, Dennis Baldocchi

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

A significant challenge in global change research is understanding how vegetation interacts with the environment to influence ecosystem gross primary productivity (GPP) through carbon assimilation. One emerging objective is to consistently predict GPP fluctuations worldwide by establishing a robust scaling relationship between GPP measured at flux towers and satellite spectral reflectance data. However, a major hurdle in achieving this goal is the discrepancy in spatial resolution between early satellite measurements and eddy flux measurements. By using a large set of growing season data covering 100 site-years in North and Central America, we explored the potential of transforming incident and reflected …

Género Y Resiliencia En La Amazonía Peruana: Las Experiencias Y Respuestas De Agricultoras Indígenas Ante El Cambio Climático, Zoe Klausner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El cambio climático antropogénico está redefiniendo rápidamente las relaciones humano-ambientales, especialmente en la Amazonía peruana, donde más de 66 comunidades indígenas enfrentan mayores sequías y temperaturas, afectando profundamente sus medios de vida. Crucialmente, desde la visión ecofeminista central a esta investigación se subraya que las mujeres indígenas experimentan los impactos del cambio climático más severamente y son a menudo los líderes en el fomento de la resiliencia ambiental. Esta investigación explora cómo las agricultoras indígenas de la Amazonía peruana viven el cambio climático y sus estrategias de adaptación y resiliencia. El trabajo de campo se realizó en la comunidad Ese'Eja …

2024 April - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

2024 March - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

2024 February - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Water Whiplash In Mediterranean Regions Of The World, Citlalli Madrigal, Rama Bedri, Thomas Piechota, Wenzhao Li, Glenn Tootle, Hesham El-Askary

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The presence of weather and water whiplash in Mediterranean regions of the world is analyzed using historical streamflow records from 1926 to 2023, depending on the region. Streamflow from the United States (California), Italy, Australia, Chile, and South Africa is analyzed using publicly available databases. Water whiplash—or the rapid shift of wet and dry periods—are compared. Wet and dry periods are defined based on annual deviations from the historical record average, and whiplash occurs when there is an abrupt change that overcomes an accommodated deficit or surplus. Of all the stations, there are more dry years (56%) than wet years …

A Proxy System Modeling Approach To Combining Tree-Ring And Sediment-Based Paleotempestological Records, Elizabeth J. Wallace, Sylvia Dee, Joshua Bregy, Kerry A. Emanuel

OES Faculty Publications

The short and biased observational record of tropical cyclones (TCs) limits scientific understanding of how these destructive storms respond to climate forcing. Paleohurricane records use natural archives (tree rings, coarse-grained sediment) to reconstruct TC properties (frequency and intensity of rainfall, wind) over the past few hundreds to thousands of years. However, different sensitivities and sampling biases in the various paleohurricane proxies restrict our ability to compile these records into regional or basin-scale TC estimates. Here we test how well pseudo tree-ring records of paleohurricanes capture TC rainfall and occurrence. Using a large set of statistically downscaled storms forced with the …

Western Boundary Current-Subtropical Continental Shelf Interactions, William B. Savidge, Dana K. Savidge, Frederico Brandini, Adam T. Greer, Eileen E. Hofmann, Moninya Roughan, Iison De Silvera, Iain M. Suthers

CCPO Publications

Western boundary currents (WBCs) adjacent to subtropical continental shelves (STCSs; between ~25° and 35° latitude; Figure 1) transport heat, nutrients, and biota poleward along the western margins of major ocean basins, interacting with the continental margins and influencing their physics and biology. Eddies and meanders along the shelf edge upwell deep, nutrient-laden water that can be advected onto the adjacent shelves with a corresponding export of particle-rich shelf water (e.g., Lee et al., 1991; Kimura et al., 1997; Campos et al., 2000; Roughan and Middleton, 2002, 2004; Lutjeharms, 2006; Savidge and Savidge, 2014). Despite their similarities, the various STCS regions …