TY - JOUR
T1 - Recent Increase in the Occurrence of Snow Droughts Followed by Extreme Heatwaves in a Warmer World
AU - Li, Xiangfei
AU - Wang, Shuo
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51809223) and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Early Career Scheme (Grant No. 25222319).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2022/7/16
Y1 - 2022/7/16
N2 - The compound of late winter snow droughts and early spring heatwaves (compound snow drought and heatwave (CSDHW)) could dramatically affect ecosystems and water availability, but has not been systematically investigated. Here we present a comprehensive assessment of CSDHW events and possible driving mechanisms. We find that 7% of the snow-covered area experiences significant (p < 0.05) CSDHW events, and an average of 35% of snow droughts are followed by heatwaves during 1981–2020. The spatial extent of CSDHW is asymmetrically enlarging, with a significant increase in Eurasia and a relatively high fluctuation in North America. Specifically, the warm-type CSDHW (i.e., snow drought with normal or above-average precipitation followed by heatwave) occurs more frequently, with spatial coverage increasing faster than the dry-type CSDHW (i.e., snow drought with below-average precipitation followed by heatwave). In comparison, dry snow drought is more likely to be followed by heatwave due to intensified soil drought and atmospheric aridity.
AB - The compound of late winter snow droughts and early spring heatwaves (compound snow drought and heatwave (CSDHW)) could dramatically affect ecosystems and water availability, but has not been systematically investigated. Here we present a comprehensive assessment of CSDHW events and possible driving mechanisms. We find that 7% of the snow-covered area experiences significant (p < 0.05) CSDHW events, and an average of 35% of snow droughts are followed by heatwaves during 1981–2020. The spatial extent of CSDHW is asymmetrically enlarging, with a significant increase in Eurasia and a relatively high fluctuation in North America. Specifically, the warm-type CSDHW (i.e., snow drought with normal or above-average precipitation followed by heatwave) occurs more frequently, with spatial coverage increasing faster than the dry-type CSDHW (i.e., snow drought with below-average precipitation followed by heatwave). In comparison, dry snow drought is more likely to be followed by heatwave due to intensified soil drought and atmospheric aridity.
KW - heatwave
KW - snow drought
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133621066&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2022GL099925
DO - 10.1029/2022GL099925
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85133621066
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 49
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 13
M1 - e2022GL099925
ER -