Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave

Abstract In June of 2021 the Southwest United States experienced a record‐breaking heatwave. This heatwave came at a time when the region was in severe drought. As drought alters the surface energy budget in ways that affect lower atmosphere temperature and circulations, it is possible that the comb...

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Main Authors: M. Osman, B. F. Zaitchik, N. S. Winstead
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-06-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099265
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author M. Osman
B. F. Zaitchik
N. S. Winstead
author_facet M. Osman
B. F. Zaitchik
N. S. Winstead
author_sort M. Osman
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In June of 2021 the Southwest United States experienced a record‐breaking heatwave. This heatwave came at a time when the region was in severe drought. As drought alters the surface energy budget in ways that affect lower atmosphere temperature and circulations, it is possible that the combined drought‐heat event was a cascading climate hazard, in which preexisting drought exacerbated the heatwave. We apply satellite observation and numerical experiments with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to test for land‐atmosphere feedbacks during the heatwave consistent with drought influence. We find a modest positive drought‐heat effect, as WRF simulations that include the drought have marginally higher air temperatures than those that exclude the initial drought conditions, with more substantial effects in wetter, forested areas. Evidence of drought‐heat‐drought‐coupled feedbacks was similarly modest in our simulations, as accounting for drought preconditioning led to a small reduction in simulated precipitation in the region.
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2022-06-01
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-a36876931b0b43a1b220c4cd7f466a5a2025-01-22T14:38:16ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072022-06-014912n/an/a10.1029/2022GL099265Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States HeatwaveM. Osman0B. F. Zaitchik1N. S. Winstead2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD USADepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD USAApplied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD USAAbstract In June of 2021 the Southwest United States experienced a record‐breaking heatwave. This heatwave came at a time when the region was in severe drought. As drought alters the surface energy budget in ways that affect lower atmosphere temperature and circulations, it is possible that the combined drought‐heat event was a cascading climate hazard, in which preexisting drought exacerbated the heatwave. We apply satellite observation and numerical experiments with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to test for land‐atmosphere feedbacks during the heatwave consistent with drought influence. We find a modest positive drought‐heat effect, as WRF simulations that include the drought have marginally higher air temperatures than those that exclude the initial drought conditions, with more substantial effects in wetter, forested areas. Evidence of drought‐heat‐drought‐coupled feedbacks was similarly modest in our simulations, as accounting for drought preconditioning led to a small reduction in simulated precipitation in the region.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099265heatwavedroughtfeedbacksland‐atmosphere fluxesUnited States
spellingShingle M. Osman
B. F. Zaitchik
N. S. Winstead
Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave
Geophysical Research Letters
heatwave
drought
feedbacks
land‐atmosphere fluxes
United States
title Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave
title_full Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave
title_fullStr Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave
title_full_unstemmed Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave
title_short Cascading Drought‐Heat Dynamics During the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave
title_sort cascading drought heat dynamics during the 2021 southwest united states heatwave
topic heatwave
drought
feedbacks
land‐atmosphere fluxes
United States
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099265
work_keys_str_mv AT mosman cascadingdroughtheatdynamicsduringthe2021southwestunitedstatesheatwave
AT bfzaitchik cascadingdroughtheatdynamicsduringthe2021southwestunitedstatesheatwave
AT nswinstead cascadingdroughtheatdynamicsduringthe2021southwestunitedstatesheatwave