On the Storms Passing Over Southern Baffin Island During Autumn 2005

Abstract

Although strong storms affect all regions of the Arctic, little research has focused on the details of their structure and evolution-particularly of the storms passing over southern Baffin Island. Such storms form in a variety of locations and often occlude before passing over the region. To study these storms, a field project was conducted at Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the eastern Canadian Arctic in the autumn of 2005. We launched rawinsondes into six storm systems and made detailed measurements that included ice crystal structure and snow accumulation. The storms had quite different histories: some produced strong winds; some produced snow, while others produced rain and freezing precipitation; and three led to record-breaking temperatures. The types of precipitation particles varied greatly, but aggregates and rimed particles dominated. When comparing the six storms, we found numerous similarities between the surface and the vertical atmospheric conditions, but there were also distinct differences.

Ongoing Climate Change in the Arctic

“…While storms have received increased diagnostic analyses through case studies (e.g., Roberts et al 2008), there have been few rigorous evaluations of variations and trends of storminess in the Arctic, particularly the central Arctic. Wang et al (2006) reported a northward shift of cyclone activity, primarily during winter, over Canada during 1953, while Mesquita et al (2010 found that temporal trends of cyclones in the North Pacific have generally been weak over the 60-year period ending 2008, although the US Global Change Research Program (Karl et al 2009) points to increased impacts of storms on the northern Alaskan coast.…”

A method to estimate freezing rain climatology from ERA-Interim reanalysis over Europe

“…Bernstein and Le Bot, 2009;Le Bot and Lassegues, 2004). More comprehensive studies have been undertaken on ice storm and FZRA climatologies over North America, including studies for various regions (Cortinas, 2000;Changnon, 2003;Cortinas et al, 2004), impacts of ice storms on different sectors (Proulx and Greene, 2001), and changes in FZRA climatology (Cheng et al, 2007(Cheng et al, , 2011Lambert and Hansen, 2011;Klima and Morgan, 2015) as well as on various wintertime precipitation types (Stewart et al, 2015) and impacts and details of FZRA storms and related synoptics (Hosek et al, 2011;Call, 2010;Roberts et al, 2008).…”

Characterization of an unexpected snowfall event in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and surrounding area during the Storm Studies in the Arctic field project

“…High‐resolution photographs of the precipitation hydrometeors were also taken using a Nikon D1x digital camera equipped with a macro lens, following the procedure of Roberts et al . [].…”

“…These results, along with others from recent studies in the region, show that accretion and aggregation are important determinants of whether precipitation will reach the surface over Baffin Island [ Roberts et al ., ; Henson et al ., ; Fargey et al ., ]. Enhanced growth through these mechanisms increase density and fall velocities, increasing the probability of hydrometeors reaching the ground before they completely sublimate.…”

“…These types of storms arrive from numerous source regions, which include but are not limited to, the Beaufort Sea, the Canadian Prairies, the Atlantic Ocean, or Baffin Bay regions [Stewart et al, 1995;Hudson et al, 2001;Intihar and Stewart, 2005]. Due to their potential association with severe and hazardous weather, a number of studies have examined their general character Stewart et al, 2004;Intihar and Stewart, 2005;Roberts et al, 2008;Gascon et al, 2010;Henson et al, 2011].…”