A study has shown that atmospheric rivers, bands of water vapor intensified by climate change, can be ranked on a new intensity scale, similar to hurricanes. The research mapped global patterns of these events over 40 years, identifying hotspots for the most intense atmospheric rivers. The findings
will aid meteorologists and city planners in predicting and preparing for these potentially damaging weather events.
Atmospheric rivers typically form when warm temperatures create moist packets of air, which strong winds then transport across the ocean; some make landfall. The intensity scale ranks these atmospheric rivers from AR-1 to AR-5 based on how long they last and how much moisture they transport. The intensity of an atmospheric river depends on how long it lasts and how much moisture it moves over one meter each second . While weaker atmospheric rivers can deliver much-needed rain, more intense storms are more damaging and dangerous than helpful. Credit: AGU, after Ralph et al. .
“Atmospheric rivers are the hurricanes of the West Coast when it comes to the public’s situational awareness,” said F. Martin Ralph, an atmospheric scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and a co-author on the new study. People need to know when they’re coming, have a sense for how extreme the storm will be, and know how to prepare, he said. “This scale is designed to help answer all those questions.
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