This study characterizes the instrumental record of California climate for the last 170 years.Our goal is to look for hydrologic variability at decadal and longer time scales that would be consistent with paleoclimate...This study characterizes the instrumental record of California climate for the last 170 years.Our goal is to look for hydrologic variability at decadal and longer time scales that would be consistent with paleoclimate estimates of hydrologic variability in California for the last 3000 years.Our study focuses on meteorological summaries of annual precipitation and temperature.The precipitation records go back as far as 1850;the temperature records go back as far as 1880.California hydrologic records show strong variability at the interannual level due to ENSO forcing.They also all show a strong decadal(∼14 yr)cyclicity and evidence for multi-decadal to centennial variability that is consistent with California paleoclimate studies.California temperature records show a long-term warming of 5°F-6°F(2.8°C-3.4°C)associated with global warming,but there is no evidence for a similar long-term trend in hydrologic variability.Long-term Pacific Ocean variability adjacent to central and northern California,Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO)and North Pacific Gyre Oscillation(NPGO),show a similar decadal to centennial pattern of variability that we associate with our long-term hydrologic variability.The positive phase of the NPGO and the negative phase of the PDO are associated with the decadal scale(∼14 yr)dry cycles in California for the last 70 years.展开更多
文摘This study characterizes the instrumental record of California climate for the last 170 years.Our goal is to look for hydrologic variability at decadal and longer time scales that would be consistent with paleoclimate estimates of hydrologic variability in California for the last 3000 years.Our study focuses on meteorological summaries of annual precipitation and temperature.The precipitation records go back as far as 1850;the temperature records go back as far as 1880.California hydrologic records show strong variability at the interannual level due to ENSO forcing.They also all show a strong decadal(∼14 yr)cyclicity and evidence for multi-decadal to centennial variability that is consistent with California paleoclimate studies.California temperature records show a long-term warming of 5°F-6°F(2.8°C-3.4°C)associated with global warming,but there is no evidence for a similar long-term trend in hydrologic variability.Long-term Pacific Ocean variability adjacent to central and northern California,Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO)and North Pacific Gyre Oscillation(NPGO),show a similar decadal to centennial pattern of variability that we associate with our long-term hydrologic variability.The positive phase of the NPGO and the negative phase of the PDO are associated with the decadal scale(∼14 yr)dry cycles in California for the last 70 years.
