Analysis of extreme weather and climate processes for north america

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Our primary objective of the proposed research program is to understand the dynamical mechanisms associated with extreme weather events affecting Canada, and to identify the pertinent combination of synoptic flow patterns and topographic features that are especially conducive to such events. The events may be driven by planetary and synoptic flow originating in the tropics, the middle latitudes, or the arctic. Respective examples of such extreme weather processes include the extratropical transition of hurricanes, extratropical cyclogenesis, and arctic cold air outbreaks. The analysis of such disparate synoptic flow patterns and the relationship to planetary scale teleconnections in a changing climate represent additional objectives that are pertinent to the study. The significant modulation of the synoptic-scale flows by the specific topographic features is another process that is crucial to our understanding of extreme weather for specific locations in Canada. An example of extreme weather that is driven by a combination of unique synoptic-scale flow patterns, which are modulated strongly by the topography, includes freezing rain. The scientific approach is to first establish a comprehensive historical perspective on the phenomenon of interest to provide a background understanding of the phenomenon. Our research approach continues with diagnostic analyses of mechanisms by which synoptic-scale flows control the topographically modulated mesoscale structures directly associated with extreme weather. This is a crucial issue in our research designed to understand the regional climate of extreme weather processes throughout Canada.