Read UA study to improve storm predictions, written by the Chronicle’s Paul M. Ingram and published in the Green Valley News:
“Even after the summer monsoon, most of Southern Arizona remains in severe drought. This lack of rain is likely to continue or intensify into 2012, according to the National Weather Service.
The chaotic summer monsoon delivers about half the region’s 12 inches of rain, but as the climate shifts, the natural variability of the storms may change dramatically leaving the desert drier than before.
A new project at the University of Arizona will look for these shifts using a unique approach. While current models focus on changes in the atmosphere, the new system will incorporate other factors, such as surface terrain, vegetation, wildfires and invasive species growth. By adding more information to weather forecasts, researchers hope to gain a better understanding of how monsoons develop and, therefore, predict how a drier, warmer climate will affect future storms.”[Read more]
###
Posted on May 17, 2012 by pmingram
0