Wind Field Climatology, Changes, and Extremes in the Chukchi–Beaufort Seas and Alaska North Slope during 1979–2009

AbstractWind field climatology, changes, and extremes at ~32-km resolution were analyzed for the Chukchi–Beaufort Seas and Alaska North Slope region using 3-hourly North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) from 1979 to 2009. The monthly average wind speeds show a clear seasonal cycle with a minimum of 2–4 m s−1 in May and a maximum up to 9 m s−1 in October. The 95th percentile winds show a similar seasonality with a maximum up to 15 m s−1 in October. The 31-yr domain averaged 3-hourly wind speeds display a clear diurnal cycle over land and sea ice areas during the warm seasons. Weaker radiation during winter and larger heat capacity over open water reduce the diurnal signal in the wind field diurnal variations. There were increasing trends of areal averaged monthly mean and 95th percentile wind speeds for July through November. The strongest increase in the areal averaged 95th percentile wind speeds occurred in October from 7 m s−1 in 1979 to 10.5 m s−1 in 2009. The frequency of extreme wind events (speed...

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