The 2015 drought in Washington State
A harbinger of things to come
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15548356 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Miriam E Marlier (0000-0001-9333-8411, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author), Mu Xiao (0000-0002-7437-0739, University of California, Los Angeles), Ruth Engel (0000-0001-6183-1543, University of California, Los Angeles), Ben Livneh (0000-0001-5445-2473, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences), John T Abatzoglou (0000-0001-7599-9750, University of Idaho), Dennis P Lettenmaier (0000-0002-0914-0726, University of California, Los Angeles) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 114008-114008 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/aa8fde |
| OpenAlex | W2760484080 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 37 |
Washington State experienced widespread drought in 2015 and the largest burned area in the observational record, attributable in part to exceptionally low winter snow accumulation and high summer temperatures. We examine 2015 drought severity in the Cascade and Olympic mountains relative to the historical climatology (1950-present) and future climate projections (mid-21st century) for a mid-range global greenhouse gas emissions scenario. Although winter precipitation was near normal, the regional winter temperature anomaly was +2.1 C (+2.0) in 2015, consistent with projections of a +2.3 C (+2.2) temperature change and near normal precipitation in the future, relative to the climatology. April 1 snow water equivalent in 2015, -325 mm (-1.5), and the future, -252 mm (-1.1), were substantially lower than the climatology. Wildfire potential, as indicated by dead fuel moisture content, was higher in 2015 than mid-21st century mean projections. In contrast to most historical droughts, which have been driven by precipitation deficits, our results suggest that 2015 is a useful analog of typical conditions in the Pacific Northwest by the mid-21st century
Anomaly (physics · Climate change · Climate model · Climatology · Geography · Meteorology · Precipitation · Range (aeronautics · Snow · Climate variability and models · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems · Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics · Geology · Oceanography
A simple hydrologically based model of land surface water and energy fluxes for general circulation models
Increasing western US forest wildfire activity
Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests
Warming and Earlier Spring Increase Western U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity
Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,43 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |