CW3E AR Update: 22 February 2017 Post Event Summary

February 22, 2017

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Summary of the ARs that impacted the U.S. West Coast over the past week

  • Three separate ARs made landfall and impacted the U.S. West from 14–21 February 2017
  • Over 20 inches of precipitation fell over some of the high elevations of the West Coast
  • There were 291 total storms reports made to NOAA NWS during the three ARs
  • A summary of the ARs and their impacts are discussed in this post event summary

SSMI Integrated Water Vapor (IWV)

Valid 14-21 Feb 2017

  • The first AR made landfall between 18 UTC (10 AM PST) 14 February and 00 UTC 15 February (4 PM PST 14 Feb) over the Pacific Northwest before propagating southward over California
  • Maximum IVT at the Coast was between 800 and 1000 kg/m/s, which is considered a strong AR
  • Some locations experienced AR conditions for up to 42 hours during this event
  • Note: The strength of AR conditions noted on this summary was determined based on 6-hourly NCEP GFS analysis periods and observed IVT magnitudes may have been higher at specific locations along the coast
  • The second AR, which developed in conjunction with a mesoscale frontal wave, made landfall ~6 UTC on 17 February (4 PM PST 16 Feb) over Southern CA
  • Some locations experienced AR conditions for up to 24 hours during this event
  • Note: The strength of AR conditions noted on this summary was determined based on 6-hourly NCEP GFS analysis periods and observed IVT magnitudes may have been higher at specific locations along the coast
  • The third AR made landfall at ~6 UTC on 20 February (4 PM PST 19 Feb) over the Northern Ca
  • Maximum IVT at the Coast was between 700 and 800 kg/m/s, which is considered a moderate strength AR
  • Some locations experienced AR conditions for up to 42 hours during this event
  • Note: The strength of AR conditions noted on this summary was determined based on 6-hourly NCEP GFS analysis periods and observed IVT magnitudes may have been higher at specific locations along the coast


 

 

 

 

 

 

Summary provided by C. Hecht, B. Kawzenuk, and F.M. Ralph; 3 PM PT Wed. 22 Feb. 2017