ENSO and PDO Effects on Hydroclimatic Variations of the Upper Colorado River Basin

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Abstract
Linkages between tropical Pacific Ocean monthly climatic variables and the Upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) hydroclimatic variations from 1909 to 1998 are analyzed at interseasonal timescales. A study of the changes in these linkages through the years and their relationship to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is also investigated. Tropical Pacific climate variations were represented by atmospheric/oceanic ENSO indicators. For the UCRB, warm season (April–September) streamflow totals at Lee's Ferry, Arizona, and precipitation averages at different periods (cold season: October–March; warm season: April–September; and annual: October–September) were used to study the UCRB's response to tropical Pacific climatic forcing. A basinwide ENSO signature was found in the significant correlations between warm season precipitation in the UCRB and warm season SST averages from the Niño-3 region in most of the stations around the UCRB. This link is more evident during the warm phase of ENSO (El Niño), wh... Abstract Linkages between tropical Pacific Ocean monthly climatic variables and the Upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) hydroclimatic variations from 1909 to 1998 are analyzed at interseasonal timescales. A study of the changes in these linkages through the years and their relationship to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is also investigated. Tropical Pacific climate variations were represented by atmospheric/oceanic ENSO indicators. For the UCRB, warm season (April–September) streamflow totals at Lee's Ferry, Arizona, and precipitation averages at different periods (cold season: October–March; warm season: April–September; and annual: October–September) were used to study the UCRB's response to tropical Pacific climatic forcing. A basinwide ENSO signature was found in the significant correlations between warm season precipitation in the UCRB and warm season SST averages from the Niño-3 region in most of the stations around the UCRB. This link is more evident during the warm phase of ENSO (El Niño), wh...