Abstract
A coupled mesoscale atmospheric-land surface model is used to simulate a twelve-day heavy precipitation event in California. In addition to the temporal variation of the large-scale flow, local topography played a crucial role in the simulated precipitation and land-surface snow budget through orographically-generated vertical motion and a decrease of atmospheric temperature with increasing altitude. The observed and simulated heavy precipitation occurred at locations where orographic lifting is strong: western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Coastal Range. Due to rainshadow effects, the Central Valley area, which is located at the lee side of the Coastal Range, received only a small amount of precipitation. The snowline appeared at altitudes as low as 750 m above sea level, and most of the precipitation above the 1.8 km level was snow. Maximum rainfall was located near the 1 km elevation along the western slope of the Sierra-Nevada while snowfall maxima appeared along the ridge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Snow accumulation was also strongly dependent upon surface elevations. The simulation suggested that over 75% of the fresh snowfall during the study period was added to the existing snow cover at elevations above 1.5 km while much of the snowfall over lower elevations melted.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anthes, R. and Warner, T.,: 1978, ‘Development of Hydrostatic Models Suitable for Air Pollution and Other Meteorological Studies’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 106, 1045–1078.
Arakawa, A.: 1986, Physically-Based Modeling and Simulation of Climate and Climate Change, Schlesinger, M. E. (ed.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, 624 pp.
Arakawa, A. and Suarez, M.: 1983, ‘Vertical Differencing of the Primitive Equations in Sigma Coordinates’, J. Atmos. Sci. 111, 34–45.
Chen, S.-C., Roads, J. O., Juange, H., and Kanamitsu, M.: 1994, ‘California Precipitation Simulation in the Nested Spectral Model: 1993 January Event’, Proceedings for Predicting Heavy Rainfall Events in California: A Symposium to Share Weather Pattern Knowledge, 25 June 1994, Rocklin, CA.
Cho, H.-R. and Iribarne, J.: 1987, ‘The Role of Clouds and Precipitation in Long-Range Transport and Acid Rain in Canada. Phase II: Programming, Testing and Refining of Cloud Dynamics, Microphysics and Chemistry Models. Vol. 2, Appendix I: Cloud Microphysics’, Report for the Canadian Electrical Assoc., Res. and Development.
Cho, H., Niewiadomski, M., and Iribarne, J.: 1989, ‘A Model of the Effect of Cumulus Clouds on the Redistribution and Transformation of Pollutants’, J. Geophys. Res. 94, No. D10, 12895–12910.
Choularton, T. and Perry, S.: 1986, ‘A Model of the Orographic Enhancement of Snowfall by the Seeder-Feeder Mechanism’, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 112, 113–129.
Cressman, G.: 1959, ‘An Operational Objective Analysis System’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 87, 367–374.
Davies, H.: 1976, ‘A Lateral Boundary Formulation for Multi-Level Prediction Models’, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 102, 404–418.
Davis, R.: 1982, Documentation of the Solar Radiation Parameterization in the GLAS Climate Model, NASA Tech. Memo., 83916, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland, 57 pp.
Deardorff, J. W.: 1978, ‘Efficient Prediction of Ground Surface Temperature and Moisture, with Inclusion of a Layer of Vegetation’, J. Geophys. Res. 83, No. C4, 1889–1903.
Department of Water Resources, California: 1988, California High Water: 1985–1986, Bulletin 69–86, May 1988, Department of Water Resources, State of California, 107 pp.
Dickinson, R. E., Errico, R. M., Giorgi, F., and Bates, G. T.: 1989, ‘A Regional Climate Model for the Western United States’, Clim. Changes 15, 383–422.
Dudhia, J.: 1989, ‘Numerical Study of Convection Observed During the Winter Monsoon Experiment Using a Mesoscale Two-Dimensional Model’, J. Atmos. Sci. 46, 3077–3107.
Ek, M. and Mahrt, L.: 1991, OSU 1-D PBL Model User's Guide, Dept. of Atmos. Sci., Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, Oregon, 118 pp.
Ellingson, R. G., Ellis, J., and Fels, S.: 1991, ‘The Intercomparison of Radiation Codes Used in Climate Models: Long Wave Results’, J. Geophys. Res. 96, No. D5, 8929–8953.
Errico, R. M. and Baumhefner, D. P.: 1987, ‘Predictability Experiments Using a High Resolution Limited Area Model’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 114, 1625–1641.
Giorgi, F.: 1990, ‘Sensitivity of Wintertime Precipitation and Soil Hydrology Simulation over the Western United States to Lower Boundary Specifications’, Atmos. Ocean. 1, 1–23.
Giorgi, F.: 1991, ‘Sensitivity of Simulated Summertime Precipitation over the Western United States to Different Physics Parameterization’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 119, 2870–2888.
Giorgi, F. and Bates, G. T.: 1989, ‘The Climatological Skill of a Regional Model over Complex Terrain’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 117, 2325–2347.
Giorgi, F., Bates, G. T., and Nieman, S. J.: 1993a, ‘The Multiyear Climatology of a Regional Atmospheric Model over the Western United States’, J. Clim. 6, 75–95.
Giorgi, F., Marinucci, M. R., and Bates, G. T.: 1993b, ‘Development of a Second-Generation Regional Climate Model (RegCM2). Part II: Convective Processes and Assimilation of Lateral Boundary Conditions’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 121, 2814–2832.
Haltiner, G. J. and Williams, R. T.: 1980, Numerical Prediction and Dynamic Meteorology, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 477 pp.
Harshvardahn and Corsetti, T.: 1984, Longwave Radiation Parameterization for the UCLA/GLAS GCM, NASA Tech. Memo. 86072, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland, 33 pp.
Harshvardhan, Davies, R., Randall, D, A., and Corsetti, T.: 1987, ‘A Fast Radiation Parameterization for Atmospheric Circulation Models’, J. Geophys. Res. 92, No. D1, 1009–1016.
Hsu, Y.-J. and Arakawa, A.: 1990, ‘Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere with an Isentropic Vertical Coordinate’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 118, 1933–1959.
Kim, J., Ek, M., and Lee, B. L.: 1994, ‘A Long-Term Simulation of Surface Fluxes and Soil Moisture’, Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Climate Variations, 23–28 January 1994, Nashville, TN.
Kim, J. and Mahrt, L.: 1992, ‘Simple Formulation of Turbulent Mixing in the Stable Free Atmosphere and Nocturnal Boundary Layer’, Tellus 44A, 381–394.
Krishnamurti, T., Ramanathan, Y., Pan, H.-L., Pasch, R., and Molinary, J.: 1980, ‘Cumulus Parameterization and Rainfall Rates I’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 108, 465–472.
Kuo, H. L.: 1965, ‘On Formation and Intensification of Tropical Cyclones through Latent Heat Release by Cumulus Convection’, J. Atmos. Sci. 22, 40–63.
Lacis, A. A. and Hansen, J. J. E.: 1974, ‘A Parameterization for the Absorption of Solar Radiation in the Earth's Atmosphere’, J. Atmos. Sci. 31, 118–133.
Lin, Y., Farley, R., and Orville, H.: 1983, ‘Bulk Parameterization of the Snow Field in a Cloud Model’, J. Clim. Appl. Met. 22, 1065–1092.
Louis, J. F., Tieke, M., and Gelevyn, J.: 1981, ‘A Short History of the Operational PBL-Parameterization at ECMWF’, Workshop on Planetary Boundary Parameterization, 59–79, ECMWF, 260 pp.
Mahrt, L. and Pan, H.-L., 1984, ‘A Two-Layer Model of Soil Hydrology’, Bound-Layer Met. 29, 1–20.
Roads, J. O., Chen, S.-C., Guetter, A. K., and Georgakakos, K. P.: 1994, ‘Large-Scale Aspects of the United States Hydrologic Cycle’, Bull. Amer. Met. Soc. 75, 1589–1610.
Roads, J. O., Maisel, N., and Alpert, J.: 1991, ‘Further Evaluation of the National Meteorological Center's Medium Range Forecast Model Precipitation Forecasts’, Weather Forecast. 6, 483–497.
Starr, D. and Cox, S.: 1985, ‘Cirrus Clouds. Part I: A Cirrus Cloud Model’, J. Atmos. Sci. 42, 2663–2681.
Stephens, G.: 1978, ‘Radiation Profiles in Extended Water Clouds. II: Parameterization Schemes’, J. Atmos. Sci. 35, 2123–2132.
Takacs, L. L.: 1985, ‘A Two-Step Scheme for the Advection Equation with Minimized Dissipation and Dispersion Errors’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 113, 1050–1065.
Wallace, J., Tibaldi, S., and Simmons, A.: 1983, ‘Reduction of Systematic Forecast Errors in the ECMWF Model through the Introduction of an Envelope Orography’, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 109, 683–717.
Zhang, D.-L. and Fritsch, J. M.: 1988, ‘A Numerical Investigation of a Convectively Generated, Inertially Stable, Extratropical Warm-Core Mesovortex over Land. Part I: Structure and Evolution’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 116, 2660–2687.
Zhang, D.-L. and Gao, K.: 1989, ‘Numerical Simulation of an Intense Squall Line During 10–11 June 1985 Pre-Storm. Part II: Rear Inflow, Pressure Perturbations and Stratiform Precipitation’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 117, 2067–2094.
Zhang, D.-L., Gao, K., and Parson, D.: 1989, ‘Numerical Simulation of an Intense Squall Line During 10–11 June 1985 Pre-Storm. Part I: Model Verification’, Mon. Wea. Rev. 117, 960–994.
Zhang, D.-L., Hsie, E.-Y., and Moncrieff, M.: 1988, ‘A Comparison of Explicit and Implicit Predictions of Convective and Stratiform Precipitating Weather Systems with a Meso-β-Scale Numer- ical Model’, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 114, 31–60.
Zobler, L.: 1986, A World Soil File for Global Climate Modelling, NASA Tech. Memo. 87802.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Soong, ST., Kim, J. Simulation of a heavy wintertime precipitation event in California. Climatic Change 32, 55–77 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00141278
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00141278