Jeanne M. Thibeault

North American Climate in CMIP5 Experiments. Part I: Evaluation of Historical Simulations of Continental and Regional Climatology*

AbstractThis is the first part of a three-part paper on North American climate in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) that evaluates the historical simulations of continental and regional climatology with a focus on a core set of 17 models. The authors evaluate the models for a set of basic surface climate and hydrological variables and their extremes for the continent. This is supplemented by evaluations for selected regional climate processes relevant to North American climate, including cool season western Atlantic cyclones, the North American monsoon, the U.S. Great Plains low-level jet, and Arctic sea ice. In general, the multimodel ensemble mean represents the observed spatial patterns of basic climate and hydrological variables but with large variability across models and regions in the magnitude and sign of errors. No single model stands out as being particularly better or worse across all analyses, although some models consistently outperform the others for certain variab...

North American Climate in CMIP5 Experiments: Part III: Assessment of Twenty-First-Century Projections*

AbstractIn part III of a three-part study on North American climate in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) models, the authors examine projections of twenty-first-century climate in the representative concentration pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) emission experiments. This paper summarizes and synthesizes results from several coordinated studies by the authors. Aspects of North American climate change that are examined include changes in continental-scale temperature and the hydrologic cycle, extremes events, and storm tracks, as well as regional manifestations of these climate variables. The authors also examine changes in the eastern North Pacific and North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and North American intraseasonal to decadal variability, including changes in teleconnections to other regions of the globe. Projected changes are generally consistent with those previously published for CMIP3, although CMIP5 model projections differ importantly from those of CMIP3 in some aspects, inc...

Changing climate extremes in the Northeast United States: observations and projections from CMIP5

Climate extremes indices are evaluated for the northeast United States and adjacent Canada (Northeast) using gridded observations and twenty-three CMIP5 coupled models. Previous results have demonstrated observed increases in warm and wet extremes and decreases in cold extremes, consistent with changes expected in a warming world. Here, a significant shift is found in the distribution of observed total annual precipitation over 1981-2010. In addition, significant positive trends are seen in all observed wet precipitation indices over 1951-2010. For the Northeast region, CMIP5 models project significant shifts in the distributions of most temperature and precipitation indices by 2041-2070. By the late century, the coldest (driest) future extremes are projected to be warmer (wetter) than the warmest (wettest) extremes at present. The multimodel interquartile range compares well with observations, providing a measure of confidence in the projections in this region. Spatial analysis suggests that the largest increases in heavy precipitation extremes are projected for northern, coastal, and mountainous areas. Results suggest that the projected increase in total annual precipitation is strongly influenced by increases in winter wet extremes. The largest decreases in cold extremes are projected for northern and interior portions of the Northeast, while the largest increases in summer warm extremes are projected for densely populated southern, central, and coastal areas. This study provides a regional analysis and verification of the latest generation of CMIP global models specifically for the Northeast, useful to stakeholders focused on understanding and adapting to climate change and its impacts in the region.

Making Sense of Twenty-First-Century Climate Change in the Altiplano: Observed Trends and CMIP3 Projections

A synthesis is presented of the first phase in regionalizing climate projections for the Altiplano, an elevated central Andean plateau in Bolivia and Peru. A prerequisite to downscaling is analysis of the large-scale forcing provided by global, multimodel climate scenarios. Global climate models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) archive are employed to qualitatively evaluate the direction of change in twenty-first-century projections of the annual cycle, indexes of extremes, and soil moisture. Analysis suggests the observed warming in the region is likely to accelerate in the coming decades under the high emissions scenario. Precipitation projections exhibit larger uncertainty but suggest an evolution toward a shorter, more intense wet season with weakened spring (September–November) precipitation and strengthened summer rainfall (January–March). These results are consistent with projections for the large-scale South American Monsoon, and station observations indicate trends similar to the projections. Extremes analysis suggests that precipitation may increasingly be experienced as intense storms, with more consecutive dry days. These results are consistent with soil moisture projections, which indicate drier conditions during the rainy season, despite the projected increase in precipitation. Our results suggest climatic changes in the Altiplano might have serious consequences for water management and indigenous agriculture. However, these climate model projections must be taken with caution, due to the relatively coarse grid scales employed and the model warm and wet biases. The results presented here will require further testing with improved, higher resolution climate models.

A Framework for Evaluating Model Credibility for Warm-Season Precipitation in Northeastern North America: A Case Study of CMIP5 Simulations and Projections

AbstractFuture projections of northeastern North American warm-season precipitation [June–August (JJA)] indicate substantial uncertainty. Atmospheric processes important to the northeast-region JJA precipitation are identified and a first evaluation of the ability of five phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) models to simulate these processes is performed. In this case study, the authors develop a set of process-based analyses forming a framework for evaluating model credibility in the northeast region. This framework includes evaluation of models’ ability to simulate observed spatial patterns and amounts of mean precipitation; dynamical atmospheric circulation features, moisture transport, and moisture divergence important to interannual precipitation variability; long-term trends; and SST patterns important to northeast-region summer precipitation.Wet summers in the northeast region are associated with 1) negative 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies centered near the Great Lake...

Toward the credibility of Northeast United States summer precipitation projections in CMIP5 and NARCCAP simulations

Precipitation projections for the northeast United States and nearby Canada (Northeast) are examined for 15 Fifth Phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) models. A process-based evaluation of atmospheric circulation features associated with wet Northeast summers is performed to examine whether credibility can be differentiated within the multimodel ensemble. Based on these evaluations, and an analysis of the interannual statistical properties of area-averaged precipitation, model subsets were formed. Multimodel precipitation projections from each subset were compared to the multimodel projection from all of the models. Higher-resolution North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) regional climate models (RCMs) were subjected to a similar evaluation, grouping into subsets, and examination of future projections. CMIP5 models adequately simulate most large-scale circulation features associated with wet Northeast summers, though all have errors in simulating observed sea level pressure and moisture divergence anomalies in the western tropical Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico. Relevant large-scale processes simulated by the RCMs resemble those of their driving global climate models (GCMs), which are not always realistic. Future RCM studies could benefit from a process analysis of potential driving GCMs prior to dynamical downscaling. No CMIP5 or NARCCAP models were identified as clearly more credible, but six GCMs and four RCMs performed consistently better. Among the “Better” models, there is no consistency in the direction of future summer precipitation change. CMIP5 projections suggest that the Northeast precipitation response depends on the dynamics of the North Atlantic anticyclone and associated circulation and moisture convergence patterns, which vary among “Better” models. Even when model credibility cannot be clearly differentiated, examination of simulated processes provides important insights into their evolution under greenhouse warming.