On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North America
Abstract Extreme floods and landslides in high‐latitude watersheds have been associated with rain‐on‐snow (ROS) events. Yet, the risks of changing precipitation phases on a declining snowpack under a warming climate remain unclear. Normalizing the total annual duration of ROS with that of the season...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL114775 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849716817244717056 |
|---|---|
| author | Azharuddin Mohammed Ardeshir Ebtehaj Judah Cohen Efi Foufoula‐Georgiou |
| author_facet | Azharuddin Mohammed Ardeshir Ebtehaj Judah Cohen Efi Foufoula‐Georgiou |
| author_sort | Azharuddin Mohammed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Extreme floods and landslides in high‐latitude watersheds have been associated with rain‐on‐snow (ROS) events. Yet, the risks of changing precipitation phases on a declining snowpack under a warming climate remain unclear. Normalizing the total annual duration of ROS with that of the seasonal snowpack, the ERA5 data (1941–2023) show that the frequency of high‐runoff ROS events is a characteristic feature of high‐latitude coastal zones, particularly over the coasts of south‐central Alaska and southern Newfoundland. Total rainfall accumulation per seasonal snowpack duration has increased across western mountain ranges, with the Olympic Mountains experiencing more than 40 mm of additional rainfall over the snowpack in the past eight decades, followed by the Sierra Nevada. These trends could drive an 8% increase in rainfall extremes (e.g., more than 10 mm for 6 hr storm with a 15‐year return period), highlighting the need for resilient flood control systems in high‐latitude coastal cities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4aae7cecfa9a47c7a166ad9c562d1c2a |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-4aae7cecfa9a47c7a166ad9c562d1c2a2025-08-20T03:12:52ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-05-01529n/an/a10.1029/2025GL114775On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North AmericaAzharuddin Mohammed0Ardeshir Ebtehaj1Judah Cohen2Efi Foufoula‐Georgiou3Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory Department of Civil Environmental and Geo‐Engineering University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN USASaint Anthony Falls Laboratory Department of Civil Environmental and Geo‐Engineering University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN USAAtmospheric & Environmental Research Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of California Irvine CA USAAbstract Extreme floods and landslides in high‐latitude watersheds have been associated with rain‐on‐snow (ROS) events. Yet, the risks of changing precipitation phases on a declining snowpack under a warming climate remain unclear. Normalizing the total annual duration of ROS with that of the seasonal snowpack, the ERA5 data (1941–2023) show that the frequency of high‐runoff ROS events is a characteristic feature of high‐latitude coastal zones, particularly over the coasts of south‐central Alaska and southern Newfoundland. Total rainfall accumulation per seasonal snowpack duration has increased across western mountain ranges, with the Olympic Mountains experiencing more than 40 mm of additional rainfall over the snowpack in the past eight decades, followed by the Sierra Nevada. These trends could drive an 8% increase in rainfall extremes (e.g., more than 10 mm for 6 hr storm with a 15‐year return period), highlighting the need for resilient flood control systems in high‐latitude coastal cities.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL114775normalized rain‐on‐snowflood riskROS runoffnon‐stationarity |
| spellingShingle | Azharuddin Mohammed Ardeshir Ebtehaj Judah Cohen Efi Foufoula‐Georgiou On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North America Geophysical Research Letters normalized rain‐on‐snow flood risk ROS runoff non‐stationarity |
| title | On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North America |
| title_full | On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North America |
| title_fullStr | On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North America |
| title_full_unstemmed | On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North America |
| title_short | On Risk of Rain on Snow Over High‐Latitude Coastal Areas in North America |
| title_sort | on risk of rain on snow over high latitude coastal areas in north america |
| topic | normalized rain‐on‐snow flood risk ROS runoff non‐stationarity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL114775 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT azharuddinmohammed onriskofrainonsnowoverhighlatitudecoastalareasinnorthamerica AT ardeshirebtehaj onriskofrainonsnowoverhighlatitudecoastalareasinnorthamerica AT judahcohen onriskofrainonsnowoverhighlatitudecoastalareasinnorthamerica AT efifoufoulageorgiou onriskofrainonsnowoverhighlatitudecoastalareasinnorthamerica |