85th AMS Annual Meeting

Monday, 10 January 2005
Multidecadal variability of spring season minimum temperature patterns in the Western United States
David P. Brown, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Previous studies have identified a trend in the Western United States toward earlier spring season onset dates. The role of multidecadal Pacific climate variability in modulating springtime temperature patterns in the Western U.S. has been less scrutinized, particularly the influence of the ENSO system on decadal time scales as represented by the PDO pattern. In this study, the variability of spring season minimum temperatures across the Western U.S. is examined within the context of multidecadal Pacific climate variations. Spatial and temporal components of multidecadal variability in March and April minimum temperature patterns are shown to exist in a fashion commensurate with phase shifts of the PDO pattern. These results highlight the need for careful examination of spring season climate variability in the Western U.S., where the spatio-temporal signatures of both climate variations and climate trends may exist.

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