Puxley et al. (2025) A Continental United States Climatology of Precipitation Whiplash Using a New Event‐Based Definition

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: International Journal of Climatology
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-12
• Authors: Bryony L. Puxley, Elinor R. Martin
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70223

Research Groups

Not explicitly mentioned in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study developed a novel algorithm to define and analyze spatially coherent precipitation whiplash events across the continental United States (CONUS) between 1915 and 2020, finding that the largest drought-to-pluvial and pluvial-to-drought events are increasing in both frequency and total area impacted, particularly in the Southeast and Northeast.

Objective

• To develop an algorithm that defines spatially coherent precipitation whiplash events on the subseasonal-to-seasonal timescale.
• To examine the climatology and characteristics of these events across the continental United States (CONUS).

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Grid points across the continental United States (CONUS), aggregated into event polygons and clustered into geographical regions.
• Temporal Scale: Subseasonal-to-seasonal, covering the period from 1915 to 2020, using a 30-day Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Kernel Density Estimation (for creating event polygons), k-means clustering (for grouping events into geographical regions).
• Data sources: Precipitation data (used to calculate the 30-day Standardised Precipitation Index); specific source not detailed in abstract.

Main Results

• The largest drought-to-pluvial and pluvial-to-drought events are increasing in both frequency and total area impacted across the CONUS.
• These increasing trends are primarily driven by changes observed across the Southeast and Northeast regions.
• Regions experiencing drought conditions for a longer period before a drought-to-pluvial event exhibit a greater change in SPI.
• Areas in pluvial conditions for a longer period before a pluvial-to-drought event exhibit a smaller change in SPI.

Contributions

• Developed the first algorithm to consider the spatial coherence of grid points in the examination of precipitation whiplash events.
• Provided a novel definition for spatially coherent precipitation whiplash events on a subseasonal-to-seasonal timescale.
• Generated databases of precipitation whiplash events adaptable for future impact and predictive studies.
• Enhanced the understanding of precipitation whiplash events across the CONUS.

Funding

Not mentioned in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Puxley2025Continental,
  author = {Puxley, Bryony L. and Martin, Elinor R.},
  title = {A Continental United States Climatology of Precipitation Whiplash Using a New Event‐Based Definition},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70223},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70223}
}