Date of Award:

8-2022

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Plants, Soils, and Climate

Committee Chair(s)

Shih-Yu Simon Wang

Committee

Shih-Yu Simon Wang

Committee

Yoshimitsu Chikamoto

Committee

Wei Zhang

Committee

Emily Becker

Committee

Jin-ho Yoon

Abstract

The impacts of specific weather events can vary greatly from year to year. Much of these impacts depend heavily on the frequency of impactful weather which is constrained by the state of the climate system each year. This research focuses largely on the impacts that climate oscillations from year-to-year or even from decade-to-decade have on the frequency of impactful weather. There are numerous examples of impactful weather that impact North America, but this work focuses on drought in the western United States, atmospheric rivers in Northern California and rapidly developing winter storms along the east coast. While seemingly disparate events, there is much overlap in the mechanisms by which variations in the ocean and atmosphere can impact the frequency of these impactful events. Most of these mechanisms involve the tropical Pacific Ocean, which acts as a major driving force for the state of the atmosphere over North America and the resulting frequency of weather extremes.

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