Abstract
In this paper we discuss data available from Argentina, Mexico, the United States and Canada that are suitable for the analysis of extreme temperature and precipitation events. We also discuss some of the problems of homogeneity and quality control that can potentially affect the observation of extreme values. It is clear that even in countries like the United States and Canada that have a potentially rich source of climate data there are still problems in obtaining homogeneous data necessary to perform thorough studies of time varying changes in extreme events. These types of problems may be compounded if data are needed from countries that do not have a tradition of maintaining large climate archives or observing networks. We also provide two examples of analyses that can be performed with these types of data: (1) the development of climate extremes indices for Canada, and (2) analyses of freezing events for Florida and the effect on the citrus industry. The Canadian example provides a good basis for countries to take indices developed for one country or region and through minor modifications make the index relevant to their own needs. The analysis of freezing events in Florida is a timely example of how extreme events have both ecological and societal impact.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alexandersson, H.: 1986, ‘A homogeneity test applied to precipitation data’, J. Clim. 6, 661–675.
Berz, G.: 1997, ‘Changing weather extremes: The viewpoint of an international reinsurer’, Proceedings, Workshop on Indices and Indicators for Climate Extremes, Asheville, NC, June 3–6, 1997, sponsored by CLIVAR, GCOS, WMO, and the National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC.
Blodget, L.: 1857, Climatology of the United States. Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott, 145–154.
Cox, H.J.: 1916, ‘Cold Waves.’ In Weather Forecasting in the United States, A.J. Henry, E.H. Bowie, H.J. Cox and H.C. Frankenfield (eds.), Washington: Government Printing Office, 143–167.
Downton, M.W. and Miller, K.A.: 1993, ‘The freeze risk to Florida citrus. Part II: Temperature variability and circulation patterns’, J. Clim. 6, 364–372.
Easterling, D.R. and Peterson, T.C.: 1995, ‘A new method for detecting undocumented discontinuities in climatological time series’, Int. J. Clim. 15, 369–377.
Easterling, D.R., Horton, B., Jones, P.D., Peterson, T.C., Karl, T.R., Parker, D.E., Salinger, M.J., Razuvayev, V., Plummer, N., Jamason, P., and Folland, C.K.: 1997, ‘Maximum and minimum temperature trends for the globe’, Science 277, 364–367.
Fairbanks, G.R.: 1895, ‘Florida freezes for a century and a half’, Proc. Florida State Hort. Soc., 8, 16–20.
Gall, R., Young, K., Schotland, R., and Schmitz, J.: 1992, ‘The recent maximum temperature anomalies in Tucson: Are they real or an instrumental problem?’, J. Clim. 5, 657–665.
Garriott, E.B.: 1906, ‘Cold waves and frosts in the United States.’ Bulletin P, Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, 22 pp., plus 328 charts.
Groisman, P.Ya., and Easterling, D.R.: 1994, ‘Variability and trends of total precipitation and snowfall over the United States and Canada’, J. Clim. 7, 184–205.
Gumbel, E.J.: 1958, Statistics of Extremes, Columbia University Press, New York.
Haddock, D.: 1981, ‘Florida’s severe freeze affects citrus: January 12–14, 1981’, Weekly Wea. Crop Bull. 68, 11–14.
Hoffmann, J.A.J. et al.: 1997, ‘Temperature, humidity and precipitation variation in Argentina and the adjacent sub-antarctic region during the present century’, Meteorol. Zeitschrift, N.F. 6, 3–11.
Hogg, W.D., Louie, P.Y.T., Niitsoo, A. and Milewska, E.: 1996, ‘Time series of water balance parameters for the Canadian Mackenzie Basin GEWEX Study Area’, Preprints, 2nd Int’l Scientific Conf. on GEWEX, Washington DC, pp. 188, WCRP.
IPCC: 1995, Climate Change 1995 — The Science of Climate Change. The Second IPCC Scientific Assessment. J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, B.A. Callendar, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg and K. Maskell (eds.), Cambridge University Press, N.Y., 572 pp.
Karl, T.R., and Williams, C.N.: 1987, ‘An approach to adjusting climatological time series for discontinuous inhomogeneities’, J. Clim. Appl. Meteor. 26, 1744–1763.
Karl, T.R., Quayle, R.G., and Groisman, P.Ya: 1993, ‘Detecting climate variations and change: New challenges for observing and data management systems’, J. Clim. 6, 1481–1494.
Karl, T.R., Knight, R.W., Easterling, D.R., and Quayle, R.G.: 1996, ‘Indices of Climate Change for the United States’, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 77, 279–292.
Karl, T.R., and Knight, R.W.: 1998, ‘Secular trends of precipitation amount, frequency, and intensity in the United States’, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 79, 231–242.
Louie, P.Y.T. and Hogg, W.D.: 1980, ‘Extreme value estimates of snowmelt’, Proc. Canadian Hydrology Symposium: 80. NRCC, Toronto, pp. 64–78.
Ludlam, D.M.: 1966, Early American Winters 1604–1820. Boston: American Meteorological Society, 285 pp.
Mekis, E. and Hogg, W.D.: 1997, ‘Rehabilitation and analysis of Canadian daily precipitation time series’, Preprints, 10th Conf. Applied Climatology. Oct. 20–23, 1997, Reno, NV, AMS Boston.
Metcalfe, J.R., Routledge, B., and Devine, K.: 1997, ‘Rainfall measurements in Canada: Changing observational methods and archive adjustment procedures’, J. Clim. 10, 92–101.
Miller, K.A.: 1991, ‘Response of Florida citrus growers to the freezes of the 1980s’, Clim. Res. 1, 133–144.
Nicholls, N.: 1995, ‘Long-term climate monitoring and extreme events’, Clim. Change 31, 231–245.
Quayle, R.G., Easterling, D.R., Karl, T.R., and Hughes, P.Y.: 1991, ‘Effects of recent thermometer changes in the cooperative network’, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 72, 1718–1723.
Reek, T., Doty, S.R., and Owen, T.W.: 1992, ‘A deterministic approach to the validation of historical daily temperature and precipitation data from the cooperative network’, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 71, 826–831.
Rogers, J.C. and Rohli, R.V.: 1991, ‘Florida citrus freezes and polar anticyclones in the Great Plains’, J. Clim. 4, 1103 - 1113 .
Rohli, R.V. and Rogers, J.C.: 1993, ‘Atmospheric teleconnections and citrus freezes in the southern United States’, Phys. Geog. 14, 1–15.
Sevruk, B.: 1982, ‘Methods of correction for systematic error in point precipitation measurement for operational use’, Operational Hydrology Report No. 21, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 91 pp.
Stirling, L.M.: 1994, ‘Atmospheric observing systems and their data management support structure’, Proceedings of the Workshop on Canadian Climate System Data, Quebec, May 1994, Environment Canada (NWRI), Burlington, Ontario.
Vincent, L.A.: 1998, ‘Technique for the identification of inhomogeneities in Canadian temperature series’, J. Clim., 11, 1094–1104.
Wendland, W.M.: 1987, ‘Prominent November coldwaves in the north central United States since 1901’, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 68, 616–619.
Zwiers, F.W., 1994: Changes in screen temperature extremes under a doubling of CO2, In: Research Activities in Atmospheric and Oceanic Modelling, G.J. Boer (ed.), pp. 7.44–7.46, CAS/JSC Working Group Numerical Experimentation, Report 19, February 1994, WMO/TDNo. 592.
Zwiers F.W. and Kharin, V.V.: 1998, ‘Changes in the extremes of the climate simulated by CCC GCM2 under CO2 doubling’, J. Clim., 11, 2200–2222.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Easterling, D.R. et al. (1999). Long-Term Observations for Monitoring Extremes in the Americas. In: Karl, T.R., Nicholls, N., Ghazi, A. (eds) Weather and Climate Extremes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9265-9_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9265-9_16
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5223-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9265-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive