Rainfall Source Proportionality Along the Gulf Coast During Peak Tropical Storm Season

Keywords: Hurricanes, Tropical, Climatology, Quantitative
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 49

Abstract

Understanding precipitation trends and determining the dynamics of the physical processes responsible for variation in rainfall patterns is an important area of climate research, especially in regards to extreme weather events. This study is an ongoing exploratory analysis on the proportionality of September precipitation in the Gulf Coast region from 1948 to 2018. This month is relevant as it is peak tropical storm season and often marks the seasonal onset of Mid-Latitude Cyclones (MLC’s) incursions into the southeastern United States. Our goal is to identify the monthly proportions of the total September rainfall in our study that come from Tropical Cyclones, MLC’s, and air mass thunderstorms. Total precipitation measurements from individual NOAA stations, supplemental climate divisional data, and interpolated Tropical Cyclone sourced precipitation data are currently being tabulated and geographically organized to be statistically analyzed via the Mann-Kendall test to determine any trends over time. The study area currently includes data from Escambia County, Florida, and Broward County, Alabama, though efforts are being made to expand this area prior to analysis.