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Dominant modes of terrain-tied vertical motion variability over the Payette River Basin of Idaho: Results from SNOWIE.

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Title: Dominant modes of terrain-tied vertical motion variability over the Payette River Basin of Idaho: Results from SNOWIE.
Authors: ZAREMBA, TROY J.1 tzaremb2@gmail.com, MCMURDIE, LYNN A.1, BLOSSEY, PETER N.1, RAUBER, ROBERT M.2, XUE, LULIN3, GEERTS, BART4, FRIEDRICH, KATJA5, FRENCH, JEFFREY R.4, CHEN, SISI3, TESSENDORF, SARAH A.3, AFRIFA, FRANCIS O. T.4
Source: Journal of Applied Meteorology & Climatology. Apr2026, Vol. 65 Issue 4, p1-22. 22p.
Subjects: Vertical motion, Principal components analysis, Supercooled liquids, Meteorological precipitation, Watersheds, Orographic clouds
Abstract: Precipitation enhancement over complex terrain is predominantly driven by quasi-stationary, terrain-tied vertical motions, making their variability a critical factor in shaping precipitation distributions and accumulation. This study quantifies the dominant modes of terrain-tied vertical motion variability over the Payette River Basin of Idaho. Principal component analysis is applied to a seasonal simulation spanning November 2016 to April 2017, which encompassed the Seeded and Natural Orographic Wintertime Clouds: the Idaho Experiment (SNOWIE) field campaign (January-March 2017). The first mode, accounting for more than 20% of the variance in vertical motion, captures ridge-tied updrafts and represents the primary pattern of terrain-induced ascent. The second mode (8%) reflects how synoptic-scale variations modulate updraft orientation, distinguishing between north-south and east-west ridgelines. The third mode (6%) isolates variability in updraft width and magnitude. These three dominant modes of variability, which explain over one-third of the vertical velocity variance in the seasonal simulation, strongly influence the distribution of supercooled liquid water (SLW) and precipitation over the terrain. Results show that the dominant modes of vertical motion variability were consistent with patterns commonly observed during SNOWIE research flights. Additionally, we quantified vertical motion, SLW, and precipitation means as a function of phase space between the modes, demonstrating that enhanced SLW and precipitation occurred when quasi-stationary waves were present over the terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Applied Meteorology & Climatology is the property of American Meteorological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Dominant modes of terrain-tied vertical motion variability over the Payette River Basin of Idaho: Results from SNOWIE.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vertical+motion%22">Vertical motion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Principal+components+analysis%22">Principal components analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Supercooled+liquids%22">Supercooled liquids</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Meteorological+precipitation%22">Meteorological precipitation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Watersheds%22">Watersheds</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Orographic+clouds%22">Orographic clouds</searchLink>
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  Data: Precipitation enhancement over complex terrain is predominantly driven by quasi-stationary, terrain-tied vertical motions, making their variability a critical factor in shaping precipitation distributions and accumulation. This study quantifies the dominant modes of terrain-tied vertical motion variability over the Payette River Basin of Idaho. Principal component analysis is applied to a seasonal simulation spanning November 2016 to April 2017, which encompassed the Seeded and Natural Orographic Wintertime Clouds: the Idaho Experiment (SNOWIE) field campaign (January-March 2017). The first mode, accounting for more than 20% of the variance in vertical motion, captures ridge-tied updrafts and represents the primary pattern of terrain-induced ascent. The second mode (8%) reflects how synoptic-scale variations modulate updraft orientation, distinguishing between north-south and east-west ridgelines. The third mode (6%) isolates variability in updraft width and magnitude. These three dominant modes of variability, which explain over one-third of the vertical velocity variance in the seasonal simulation, strongly influence the distribution of supercooled liquid water (SLW) and precipitation over the terrain. Results show that the dominant modes of vertical motion variability were consistent with patterns commonly observed during SNOWIE research flights. Additionally, we quantified vertical motion, SLW, and precipitation means as a function of phase space between the modes, demonstrating that enhanced SLW and precipitation occurred when quasi-stationary waves were present over the terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Label:
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Applied Meteorology & Climatology is the property of American Meteorological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1175/JAMC-D-25-0148.1
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 22
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Vertical motion
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Principal components analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Supercooled liquids
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      – SubjectFull: Meteorological precipitation
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      – SubjectFull: Watersheds
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      – SubjectFull: Orographic clouds
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      – TitleFull: Dominant modes of terrain-tied vertical motion variability over the Payette River Basin of Idaho: Results from SNOWIE.
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              Text: Apr2026
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