The Development and Evolution of Two Atmospheric Rivers in Proximity to Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclones in October 2010

AbstractThis study investigates the evolution of two zonally elongated atmospheric rivers (ARs) that produced >200 mm of rainfall over mountainous regions of Northern California in late October 2010. Synoptic-scale analysis and air parcel trajectory analysis indicate that the ARs developed within high-CAPE environments characterized by troposphere-deep ascent as water vapor was transported directly from western North Pacific tropical cyclones (TCs) toward the equatorward entrance region of an intensifying North Pacific jet stream (NPJ). The same ARs were subsequently maintained as water vapor was transported from extratropical and subtropical regions over the central and eastern North Pacific in an environment characterized by quasigeostrophic forcing for ascent and strong frontogenesis along the anticyclonic shear side of an intense and zonally extended NPJ. Although the ARs developed in conjunction with water vapor transported from regions near TCs and in the presence of troposphere-deep ascent, an atmo...

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