A Study of AR-, TS-, and MCS-Associated Precipitation and Extreme Precipitation in Present and Warmer Climates

Atmospheric rivers (ARs), tropical storms (TSs), and mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are important weather phenomena that often threaten society through heavy precipitation and strong winds. Despite their potentially vital role in global and regional hydrological cycles, their contributions to long-term mean and extreme precipitation have not been systematically explored at the global scale. Using observational and reanalysis data, and NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's new high-resolution global climate model, we quantify that despite their occasional (13%) occurrence globally, AR, TS, and MCS days together account for similar to 55% of global mean precipitation and similar to 75% of extreme precipitation with daily rates exceeding its local 99th percentile. The model reproduces well the observed percentage of mean and extreme precipitation associated with AR, TS, and MCS days. In an idealized global warming simulation with a homogeneous SST increase of 4 K, the modeled changes in global mean and regional distribution of precipitation correspond well with changes in AR/TS/MCS precipitation. Globally, the frequency of AR days increases and migrates toward higher latitudes while the frequency of TS days increases over the central Pacific and part of the south Indian Ocean with a decrease elsewhere. The frequency of MCS days tends to increase over parts of the equatorial western and eastern Pacific warm pools and high latitudes and decreases over most part of the tropics and subtropics. The AR/TS/MCS mean precipitation intensity increases by similar to 5% K-1 due primarily to precipitation increases in the top 25% of AR/TS/MCS days with the heaviest precipitation, which are dominated by the thermodynamic component with the dynamic and microphysical components playing a secondary role.

Automated summary

Atmospheric rivers, tropical storms, and mesoscale convective systems play important roles in global precipitation, particularly in extreme precipitation events. Simulation data suggests that under global warming scenarios, the frequency and intensity of precipitation associated with these weather phenomena may change.