An adaptation technique based on the synoptic atmospheric circulation to forecast local precipitation, namely the analogue method, has been implemented for the western Swiss Alps. During the calibration procedure, relevance maps were established for the geopotential height data. These maps highlight the locations were the synoptic circulation was found of interest for the precipitation forecast...

THE OBJECT of standardization procedures is to summarize mortality or morbidity rates for the individual age groups or other strata of a population into a single index which indicates its position relative to other populations while accounting for differences in age structures. When both numerator and denominator data are available for all strata in each population, and when the aim is primaril...

The character of fog at Cape Town International Airport (CTIA), South Africa, is investigated, using 13 yr of historical hourly data during the period 1997–2010. Hourly surface observations are used to identify fog types that most frequently affect CTIA, by using an objective fog-type classification method that classifies fog events according to their primary formation mechanisms. Fog-type char...

The wheat production in midland China is under serious threat by frequent Dry-Hot Wind (DHW) episodes with high temperature, low moisture and specific wind as well as intensive heat transfer and evapotranspiration. The numerical simulations of these episodes are important for monitoring grain yield and estimating agricultural water demand. However, uncertainties still remain despite that enormo...

The work examines the seasonality and large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns associated with debris-flow occurrence in the Trentino–Alto Adige region (eastern Italian Alps). Analysis is based on classification algorithms applied to a uniquely dense archive of debris flows and hourly rain gauge precipitation series covering the period 2000–2009. Results highlight the seasonal and synoptic ...

The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) is the dominant mode of variability in the tropical atmosphere on intraseasonal timescales and planetary spatial scales. Despite the primary importance of the MJO and the decades of research progress since its original discovery, a generally accepted theory for its essential mechanisms has remained elusive. Here, we present a minimal dynamical model for the M...

Setting priorities for protection and restoration efforts is necessary whenever resources are not sufficient to target all sites simultaneously. When this occurs priorities should be set to maximize the ecological benefit gained from available resources. Prioritizing protection and restoration efforts in this fashion is hampered, however, by a lack of information that can be used by resource ma...

The zonal structure and dynamics of the dipolar patterns of intraseasonal variability in the extratropical atmosphere—namely, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the so-called annular modes of variability—are investigated in an idealized general circulation model. Particular attention is focused on the relationships linking the zonal structure of the stationary waves, synoptic variability ...

In order to address the difficult issue of forecasting snowfall amounts for the general public, forecasters must be intimately familiar with the climatological behavior of snowfall events and associated snowfall-to-liquid (SL) precipitation ratios that accompany events impacting the region. In Southwest Missouri, an average of 4 to 5 snowfall events of 3 inches or more occurred every year withi...

This study describes objective analysis of the atmospheric conditions that precede or accompany severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. The data used are standard rawinsonde observations and hourly surface reports as they are transmitted over teletypewriter. In analyzing upper air data, spherical coordinates are used with grid points 2%" of lat. and long. apart. Hourly observations are analyzed on ...