Extreme Precipitation Events in the South-Central United States during May and June 2010: Historical Perspective, Role of ENSO, and Trends

Abstract An analysis of extreme daily precipitation events that occurred in the south-central United States during May and June 2010 is carried out using gridded station data and reanalysis products in use at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Various aspects of the daily extremes are examined from a climate perspective using a 62-yr (1948–2010) period of record, including their historical ranking, common circulation features, moisture plumes, and the possible influence of ENSO. The analysis also considers how the frequency and intensity of daily extremes is changing in the United States. Each of the 2010 flash flood events examined here was associated with historic daily rainfall totals. Several of the events had meteorological conditions in common at upper and lower levels of the atmosphere, and all of the events fit well into an existing classification scheme for heavy precipitation events associated with flash flooding. Each case exhibited characteristics of the “Maya Express” flood events that link tropical moisture plumes from the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to midlatitude flooding over the central United States. Consistent with recent assessment reports, it is shown that extreme daily precipitation events in the United States have increased in frequency during the most recent 30-yr period (1980–2009) when compared to the previous 30-yr period (1950–79), though the increases are relatively small during May and June.

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Performance of Landscape Roses Grown with Minimal Input in the North-central, Central, and South-central United States

HortTechnology ◽

10.21273/horttech03681-17 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 718-730 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

David C. Zlesak ◽

Randy Nelson ◽

Derald Harp ◽

Barbara Villarreal ◽

Nick Howell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

National Level ◽

The United States ◽

The South ◽

Flower Number ◽

North Central ◽

The North ◽

South Central ◽

Central United States ◽

Plant Hardiness

Landscape roses (Rosa sp.) are popular flowering shrubs. Consumers are less willing or able to maintain landscape beds than in years past and require plants that are not only attractive, but well-adapted to regional climatic conditions, soil types, and disease and pest pressures. Marketing and distribution of rose cultivars occurs on a national level; therefore, it is difficult for U.S. consumers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zones 3 to 5 to identify well-adapted, cold-hardy cultivars. Identifying suitable cultivars that have strong genetic resistance to pests and disease and that will tolerate temperature extremes without winter protection in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3 to 5 is of tremendous value to consumers and retailers in northern states. Twenty landscape rose cultivars, primarily developed in north-central North America, were evaluated at five locations in the United States (three in the north-central United States, one in the central United States, and one in the south-central United States) using the low-input, multiyear Earth-Kind® methodology. Six roses had ≥75% plant survival at the end of the study and were in the top 50% of performers for overall mean horticultural rating at each of the three north-central U.S. sites: ‘Lena’, ‘Frontenac’, ‘Ole’, ‘Polar Joy’, ‘Sunrise Sunset’, and ‘Sven’. Five of these six roses met the same criteria at the central United States (exception ‘Lena’) and the south-central United States (exception ‘Polar Joy’) sites. Cultivar, rating time, and their interaction were highly significant, and block effects were not significant for horticultural rating for all single-site analyses of variance. Significant positive correlations were found between sites for flower number, flower diameter, and overall horticultural rating. Significant negative correlations were found between flower number and diameter within each site and also between black spot (Diplocarpon rosae) lesion size from a previous study and overall horticultural rating for three of the five sites. Cane survival ratings were not significantly correlated with overall horticultural rating, suggesting some cultivars can experience severe winter cane dieback, yet recover and perform well. Data from this study benefit multiple stakeholders, including nurseries, landscapers, and consumers, with evidence-based regional cultivar recommendations and breeders desiring to identify regionally adapted parents.

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Knockdown Resistance-Associated Mutations Dominate Populations of the Common Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Across the South Central United States

Journal of Medical Entomology ◽

10.1093/jme/tjz105 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 56 (6) ◽

pp. 1678-1683 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jeffrey G Holleman ◽

Grant A Robison ◽

Ian J Bellovich ◽

Warren Booth

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Insecticide Resistance ◽

The United States ◽

Knockdown Resistance ◽

The South ◽

Α Subunit ◽

Old World ◽

Bed Bug ◽

South Central ◽

Central United States

Abstract Despite awareness of the mutations conferring insecticide resistance in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), within the United States few studies address the distribution and frequency of these. Within the United States, studies have focused on collections made along the East Coast and Midwest, documenting the occurrence of two mutations (V419L and L925I) within the voltage-gated sodium channel α-subunit gene shown to be associated with knockdown resistance (kdr) to pyrethroids. Here, the distribution and frequency of the V419L and L925I site variants is reported from infestations sampled within Oklahoma and its immediately adjacent states. Additionally, the presence of a mutation previously undocumented in the United States (I935F) is noted. While novel in the United States, this mutation has previously been reported in Australian and Old World populations. No infestations were found to harbor wild-type individuals, and hence susceptible, at each of the three sites. Instead, ~21% were found to possess the resistant mutation at the L925I site (haplotype B), ~77% had mutations at both the V419L and L925I sites (haplotype C), and 2% possessed the mutation at the L936F site (haplotype Ab). The high frequency of haplotype C corresponds to previous studies in the United States, and contrasts dramatically with those of the Old World and Australia. The data presented here provide insight into the contemporary occurrence of kdr-associated insecticide resistance in the South Central United States, a region for which data have previously been absent. These data suggest that New World and Old World/Australian infestations are likely to have originated from different origins.

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The Flashiest Watersheds in the Contiguous United States

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-d-14-0217.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. 2365-2381 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Brianne K. Smith ◽

James A. Smith

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Pacific Northwest ◽

West Coast ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Flash Flood ◽

The United States ◽

Flood Damage ◽

Flood Events ◽

Discharge Data ◽

South Central

Abstract The authors identify the flashiest watersheds in the contiguous United States based on frequency of discharge peaks exceeding 1 m3 s−1 km−2. The entire digitized record of USGS instantaneous discharge data is used for all stream gauging stations with over 10 years of data. Using the 1 m3 s−1 km−2 threshold, the flashiest basins in the contiguous United States are located in urban areas along a swath of states from the south-central United States to the mid-Atlantic and in mountainous areas of the West Coast, especially the Pacific Northwest. The authors focus on small watersheds to identify the flashiest cities and states across the country and find Tulsa, Oklahoma; Baltimore, Maryland; and St. Louis, Missouri, to be the flashiest cities in the contiguous United States. Thunderstorms are major agents for peak-over-threshold flood events east of the Rocky Mountains, and tropical cyclones play a secondary role, especially in the Southeast. West Coast flood events are associated with winter storms. Flooding west of and within the Rockies is linked to steeply sloped terrain and compact watersheds. East of the Rockies, urban areas dominate flashy watersheds. The authors find that watersheds northeast (downwind) of city centers are flashier than other urban watersheds, consistent with the downwind maximum in rainfall found in many urban regions. They examine anomalous flood response in the Illinois–Missouri region; St. Louis is among the flashiest cities in the United States, while Chicago is among the least flashy. Their flashiness map is compared with other measures of flooding, including flood damage and National Weather Service flash flood reports.

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Determinants and Projections of Land Use in the South Central United States

Southern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/sjaf/26.2.78 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 78-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

SoEun Ahn ◽

Andrew J. Plantinga ◽

Ralph J. Alig

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Land Use ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

The United States ◽

Population Increase ◽

Land Uses ◽

The South ◽

Net Returns ◽

South Central ◽

Central United States

Abstract This article presents historical trends and future projections of forest, agricultural, and urban/other land uses for the South Central region of the United States. An econometric land use model is used to investigate the relationship between the areas of land in alternative uses and economic and demographic factors influencing land use decisions. Determinants of land use included in the model are the net returns from different land uses, land quality, and demographic variables such as population density. Given projections of stumpage prices and population, the fitted econometric models are used to generate projections of future land use to the year 2050. Under a scenario in which population changes in the future, but stumpage prices remain constant, urban/other land increases by 2.2 million ac from 1992 to 2050. More private timberland (1.8 million ac) than agricultural land (0.4 million ac) is converted to urban/other land to accommodate the population increase. Under a scenario of population growth and 0.5% annual increases in stumpage prices, private timberland increases from 101.7 million ac to 107.2 million ac by 2050, and the urban/other land increases by 1.3 million ac. Agricultural land declines by almost 7 million ac, mirroring the increases in the urban/other land and private timberland. South. J. Appl. For. 26(2):78–84.

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Synoptic-Scale Characteristics and Precursors of Cool-Season Precipitation Events at St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1979–2005

Weather and Forecasting ◽

10.1175/2008waf2222167.1 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 667-689 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Shawn M. Milrad ◽

Eyad H. Atallah ◽

John R. Gyakum

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Extreme Events ◽

Gulf Coast ◽

Precipitable Water ◽

Geostrophic Wind ◽

The United States ◽

Cool Season ◽

South Central ◽

Extreme Precipitation Events ◽

Precipitation Events

Abstract The issue of quantitative precipitation forecasting continues to be a significant challenge in operational forecasting, particularly in regions susceptible to frequent and extreme precipitation events. St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, is one location affected frequently by such events, particularly in the cool season (October–April). These events can include flooding rains, paralyzing snowfall, and damaging winds. A precipitation climatology is developed at St. John’s for 1979–2005, based on discrete precipitation events occurring over a time period of up to 48 h. Threshold amounts for three categories of precipitation events (extreme, moderate, and light) are statistically derived and utilized to categorize such events. Anomaly plots of sea level pressure (SLP), 500-hPa height, and precipitable water are produced for up to 3 days prior to the event. Results show that extreme events originate along the Gulf Coast of the United States, with the location of anomaly origin being farther to the north and west for consecutively weaker events, culminating in light events that originate from the upper Midwest of the United States and south-central Canada. In addition, upper-level precursor features are identified up to 3 days prior to the events and are mainly located over the west coast of North America. Finally, results of a wind climatology produced for St. John’s depict a gradual shift in the predominant wind direction (from easterly to southwesterly) of both the 925-hPa geostrophic wind and 10-m observed wind from extreme to light events, inclusively. In addition, extreme events are characterized by almost exclusively easterly winds.

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Contributions to economic geology, 1920, Part I, Metals and nonmetals except fuels--Permian salt deposits of the south-central United States

10.3133/b715m ◽

1921 ◽

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Economic Geology ◽

The South ◽

South Central ◽

Central United States ◽

Permian Salt ◽

Salt Deposits

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Changes in Intense Precipitation over the Central United States

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-d-11-039.1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 47-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 137

Author(s):

Pavel Ya. Groisman ◽

Richard W. Knight ◽

Thomas R. Karl

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Extreme Precipitation ◽

Heavy Precipitation ◽

The Past ◽

Extreme Precipitation Events ◽

Intense Precipitation ◽

Central United States ◽

Extreme Rain ◽

Rain Events ◽

Precipitation Events

Abstract In examining intense precipitation over the central United States, the authors consider only days with precipitation when the daily total is above 12.7 mm and focus only on these days and multiday events constructed from such consecutive precipitation days. Analyses show that over the central United States, a statistically significant redistribution in the spectra of intense precipitation days/events during the past decades has occurred. Moderately heavy precipitation events (within a 12.7–25.4 mm day−1 range) became less frequent compared to days and events with precipitation totals above 25.4 mm. During the past 31 yr (compared to the 1948–78 period), significant increases occurred in the frequency of “very heavy” (the daily rain events above 76.2 mm) and extreme precipitation events (defined as daily and multiday rain events with totals above 154.9 mm or 6 in.), with up to 40% increases in the frequency of days and multiday extreme rain events. Tropical cyclones associated with extreme precipitation do not significantly contribute to the changes reported in this study. With time, the internal precipitation structure (e.g., mean and maximum hourly precipitation rates within each preselected range of daily or multiday event totals) did not noticeably change. Several possible causes of observed changes in intense precipitation over the central United States are discussed and/or tested.

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ENSO and Wintertime Extreme Precipitation Events over the Contiguous United States

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/2007jcli1705.1 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 22-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Siegfried D. Schubert ◽

Yehui Chang ◽

Max J. Suarez ◽

Philip J. Pegion

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

West Coast ◽

Extreme Precipitation ◽

East Coast ◽

Daily Precipitation ◽

Precipitation Variability ◽

The West ◽

Extreme Precipitation Events ◽

The Impact ◽

Precipitation Events

Abstract In this study the authors examine the impact of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on precipitation events over the continental United States using 49 winters (1949/50–1997/98) of daily precipitation observations and NCEP–NCAR reanalyses. The results are compared with those from an ensemble of nine atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) simulations forced with observed SST for the same time period. Empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of the daily precipitation fields together with compositing techniques are used to identify and characterize the weather systems that dominate the winter precipitation variability. The time series of the principal components (PCs) associated with the leading EOFs are analyzed using generalized extreme value (GEV) distributions to quantify the impact of ENSO on the intensity of extreme precipitation events. The six leading EOFs of the observations are associated with major winter storm systems and account for more than 50% of the daily precipitation variability along the West Coast and over much of the eastern part of the country. Two of the leading EOFs (designated GC for Gulf Coast and EC for East Coast) together represent cyclones that develop in the Gulf of Mexico and occasionally move and/or redevelop along the East Coast producing large amounts of precipitation over much of the southern and eastern United States. Three of the leading EOFs represent storms that hit different sections of the West Coast (designated SW for Southwest coast, WC for the central West Coast, and NW for northwest coast), while another represents storms that affect the Midwest (designated by MW). The winter maxima of several of the leading PCs are significantly impacted by ENSO such that extreme GC, EC, and SW storms that occur on average only once every 20 years (20-yr storms) would occur on average in half that time under sustained El Niño conditions. In contrast, under La Niña conditions, 20-yr GC and EC storms would occur on average about once in 30 years, while there is little impact of La Niña on the intensity of the SW storms. The leading EOFs from the model simulations and their connections to ENSO are for the most part quite realistic. The model, in particular, does very well in simulating the impact of ENSO on the intensity of EC and GC storms. The main model discrepancies are the lack of SW storms and an overall underestimate of the daily precipitation variance.

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