Abstract
The west coast of North America extends from the tundra near the Arctic Ocean to the tropical jungles of Panama, with a wide variety of climates in between. Lawford (this volume) discusses the north-south variations throughout the range of the Americas. A special American Geophysical Union monograph, edited by Peterson (1989), is devoted to “Aspects of climate variability in the Pacific and the western Americas” and provides a valuable source of information on this topic. In that same volume, Roden (1989) and Tabata (1989) examine the long-term variability of the west coast and northeast Pacific Ocean climate. Walters and Meier (1989) show that variations in glacial mass balances in western North America are related to the steering effect of the Aleutian/Gulf of Alaska low.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bakun, A. 1990. Global climate change and intensification of coastal ocean upwelling. Science, 247, 198–201.
Beardsley, R.C., Dorman, C.E., Friehe, C.D., Rosenfeld, L.K., and Winant, C.D. 1987. Local atmospheric forcing during the Coastal Ocean Dynamics Experiment. 1. A description of the marine boundary layer and atmospheric conditions over a northern California upwelling region. J Geophys Res, 92, 1467–1488.
Beardsley, R.C., and Lentz, S.J. 1987. The coastal ocean dynamics experiment collection: An introduction. J Geophys Res, 92, 1455–1463.
Breaker, L.C. 1989. El Niño and related variability in sea-surface temperature along the central California coast. In D.H. Peterson (ed.), Aspects of Climate Variability in the Pacific and the Western Americas. American Geophysical Union, Geophys Monog, 55, 133–140.
Bryson, R.A., and Hare, F.K. (eds.) 1974. Climates of North America. Vol. 11, World Survey of Climatology, H. Landsberg (ed.), New York: Elsevier.
Cayan, D.R., and Peterson, D.H. 1989. The influence of North Pacific atmospheric circulation on streamflow in the west. In D.H. Peterson (ed.), Aspects of Climate Variability in the Pacific and the Western Americas. American Geophysical Union, Geophys Monog, 55, 375–397.
Cayan, D.R., and Roads, J.O. 1984. Local relationships between United States west coast precipitation and monthly mean circulation parameters. Mon Wea Rev, 112, 1276–1282.
Emery, W.J., and Hamilton, K. 1985. Atmospheric forcing of interannual variability of the northeast Pacific Ocean: Connections with El Niño. J Geophys Res, 90, 857–868.
Fang W., and Hsieh, W.W. 1993. Summer sea surface temperature variability off Vancouver Island from satellite data. J Geophys Res, 98, 14391–14400.
Finkelstein, P.L., and Truppi, L.E. 1991. Spatial distribution of precipitation seasonality in the United States. J Clim, 4, 373–385.
Hare, F.K., and Thomas, M.K. 1974. Climate Canada. Toronto: Wiley.
Hsieh, W.W., and Boer, G.J. 1992. Global climate change and ocean upwelling. Fish Oceanog, 1, 333–338.
Klein, W.H., and Bloom, H.J. 1987. Specification of monthly precipitation over the United States from the surrounding 700 mb height field. Mon Wea Rev, 115, 2118–2132.
McBean, G.A. 1994. Observed patterns of precipitation and mid-tropospheric atmospheric circulation. Atmosphere Ocean (to be submitted).
McBean, G.A., and Hourston, R.A.S. 1994. Relationships between anomalies in circulation and precipitation and sea-surface temperature patterns over the north Pacific Ocean. Atmosphere Ocean (to be submitted).
Murty, T.S., McBean, G.A., and McKee, B. 1983. Explosive cyclogenesis in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Mon Wea Rev, 111, 1131–1135.
Namias, J. 1975. Northern Hemisphere seasonal sea level pressure and anomaly charts, 1947–1974. In A. Fleminger (ed.), CalCOFI Atlas No. 22. Marine Life Research Program, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, CA.
Palmer, T.N. 1993. Extended-range atmospheric prediction and the Lorenz model. Bull Am Meteorol Soc, 14, 49–65.
Peterson, D.H. (ed.) 1989. Aspects of climate variability in the Pacific and the western Americas. American Geophysical Union, Geophys Monog, 55.
Redmond, K.T., and Koch, R.W. 1991. Surface climate and streamflow variability in the western United States and their relationship to large-scale circulation indices. Wat Res Res, 27, 2381–2399.
Roden, G.I. 1989. Analysis and interpretation of long-term climatic variability along the west coast of North America. In D.H. Peterson (ed.), Aspects of Climate Variability in the Pacific and the Western Americas. American Geophysical Union, Geophys Monog, 55, 93–111.
Strub, P.T., Allen, J.S., Huyer, A., Smith, R.L., and Beardsley, R.C. 1987. Seasonal cycles of currents, temperatures, winds and sea level over the northeast Pacific continental shelf: 35°N to 48°N. J Geophys Res, 92, 1507–1526.
Tabata, S. 1989. Trends and long-term variability of ocean properties at Ocean Station P in the northeast Pacific Ocean. In D.H. Peterson (ed.), Aspects of Climate Variability in the Pacific and the Western Americas. American Geophysical Union, Geophys Monog, 55, 113–132.
Thomson, R.E. 1981. Oceanography of the British Columbia coast. Can Spec Pub Fish Aquat Sci, 56.
Wallace, J.M., and Gutzler, D.S. 1981. Teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the Northern Hemispherie winters. Mon Wea Rev, 109, 748–812.
Walters, R.A., and Meier, M.F. 1989. Variability of glacier mass balances in western North America. In D.H. Peterson (ed.), Aspects of Climate Variability in the Pacific and the Western Americas. American Geophysical Union, Geophys Monog, 55, 365–374.
Yarnal, B., and Diaz, H.F. 1986. Relationships between extremes of the Southern Oscillation and the winter climate of the Anglo-American Pacific coast. J Climatol, 6, 197–219.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McBean, G.A. (1996). Factors Controlling the Climate of the West Coast of North America. In: Lawford, R.G., Fuentes, E., Alaback, P.B. (eds) High-Latitude Rainforests and Associated Ecosystems of the West Coast of the Americas. Ecological Studies, vol 116. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3970-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3970-3_2
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8453-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3970-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive