CW3E Event Summary: 16-19 May 2020
May 21, 2020
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A moderate and seasonally anomalous atmospheric river brought precipitation to a large portion of the Western US
- Several coastal and inland locations across the Western US experienced AR 1 conditions on the Atmospheric River Scale
- As much as 6 inches of precipitation fell over high elevation locations in the Sierra Nevada, Cascade, and Rocky Mountains
- Coastal Sonoma County has only experienced IVT magnitudes greater than 650 kg m–1 s–1 during the later half of May twice since 2000
- While this AR brought much needed precipitation to drought stricken Northern California, the Northern Sierra 8-Station index has only received 64% of its normal precipitation during water year 2020
SSMI/SSMIS/AMSR2-derived Integrated Water Vapor (IWV)
Valid 0000 UTC 15 May – 1800 UTC 20 May 2020
Images from CIMSS/Univ. of Wisconsin
Click IVT or IWV image to see loop of GFS Analysis Valid 0000 UTC 15 May – 1200 UTC 20 May 2020 |
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Summary provided by C. Hecht, B. Kawzenuk, C. Castellano, Z. Zhang, J. Kalansky, and F. M. Ralph; 2 PM PT 21 May 2020