1 / 18

Kansas City Winter Weather Climate Review

Kansas City Winter Weather Climate Review. October 28, 2008 Created by: Mike July Presented by: Matthew Dux. Layout of Presentation. Review Kansas City Snow Climatology Review Synoptic Patterns Conducive to Heavy Snow Review Freezing Rain Climatology.

nasia
Download Presentation

Kansas City Winter Weather Climate Review

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Kansas City Winter WeatherClimate Review October 28, 2008 Created by: Mike July Presented by: Matthew Dux

  2. Layout of Presentation • Review Kansas City Snow Climatology • Review Synoptic Patterns Conducive to Heavy Snow • Review Freezing Rain Climatology

  3. There have been 1835 measurable snow events (roughly 15/yr) at the official Kansas City reporting site since 1888. Of those, only 144 events (7.8% or approximately once per season) where 4 or more inches of snow fell and only 57 events (3.1% or once every 2 seasons) where 6 or more inches of snow fell on a calendar day. • 1835 Snow Events • 15 /year • 144 Events ~ >4”snow • ~1 /season • 57 Events ~ >6” snow • ~1 /2 seasons 1634 Snow Events < 4”

  4. 30 Year Snow Climatology (1971-2000)

  5. Four Primary Patterns Favorable for Heavy Snowfall in the EAX CWA •  Northwest Flow System or “Clipper” •  Southwest Low •  Progressive Short Wave Trough •  Deepening Low

  6. Four Primary Patterns Favorable for Heavy Snowfall in the EAX CWA Northwest Flow System or “Clipper”

  7. Four Primary Patterns Favorable for Heavy Snowfall in the EAX CWA Southwest Low

  8. Four Primary Patterns Favorable for Heavy Snowfall in the EAX CWA Progressive Short Wave Trough

  9. Four Primary Patterns Favorable for Heavy Snowfall in the EAX CWA Deepening Low

  10. Freezing Rain/Freezing Precipitation Climatology

  11. 30 yr average (1971-2000) – 3.2 events/yr • 30 yr average (1948-1977) – 3.2 events/yr • 53 yr average (1948-2000) – 3.2 events/yr

  12. FZRA events peak in December/January Kansas City December, January and February have an equal distribution of FZRA events

  13. 92% chance FZRA will occur in during the cold season (Nov-Mar). • 83% chance FZRA will occur on 1 to 5 days per cold season. • 58% chance FZRA will occur on 2 to 4 days (annual avg 3.2/cold season)

  14. Kansas City Averages • (1971-2000) – 3.2 days/yr • (1948-1977) – 3.2 days/yr (not shown) • (1948-2000) – 3.2 days/yr

  15. Annual Mean Freezing Precipitation Days (FZRA & FZDZ)

  16. Monthly Frequency of FZRA/FZDZ

  17. Primary Weather Patterns Associated with Freezing Precipitation Studies by Bennett (1958), Changnon (2003) and Rauber, et al (2001) came to very similar conclusions……… 1) Arctic Fronts account for 42% 2) Warm Front / Occlusion – 19% 3) Cyclone/Anticyclone – 26% • Pattern 3 most severe due to heavy icing plus high winds. • Area of FZRA/FZDZ is typically narrow and just north of 0C surface isotherm. 1 2 3

  18. Summary/Other Important Items • FZDZ occurs much more frequently than FZRA. • In KC freezing rain peaks in Dec/Jan. • Three primary weather patterns account for the vast majority of all freezing precipitation in Kansas City (possibly as high as 90%). • Between 1 and 5 freezing rain events per cold season with an annual average of 3.2/season. • Around 80% of all FZRA events occur with 2m temperatures within a tight range (28-32F) whereas the vast majority of FZDZ events occur within a much broader range (21-32F). • The Freezing Precipitation Frequency graphics from NCDC look suspect….especially for December.

More Related