Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 3 — Observational / field trialPeer-reviewed

Projected increases and shifts in rain-on-snow flood risk over western North America

K. N. Musselman, Flavio Lehner, Kyoko Ikeda, Martyn Clark, Andreas F. Prein, Changhai Liu, Mike Barlage, Roy Rasmussen

Nature Climate Change · 2018

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Summary

This modelling study, published in Nature Climate Change in 2018, examines projected changes in rain-on-snow flood hazard across western North America under climate warming scenarios. Using high-resolution climate simulations, the authors project increases and poleward/elevation shifts in rain-on-snow flood risk as suggested by mid-to-late 21st-century climate projections. The work has implications for water resource management and flood preparedness in snow-affected regions.

UK applicability

Limited direct applicability, as rain-on-snow flooding is not a primary flood mechanism in the United Kingdom. However, the methodological approach to climate-driven hydrological risk projection may inform UK flood risk assessment under future climate scenarios, particularly in upland regions with winter precipitation.

Key measures

Rain-on-snow flood frequency, magnitude, spatial distribution, and temporal shifts under future climate scenarios

Outcomes reported

The study projected changes in rain-on-snow flood frequency, magnitude, and timing across western North America using climate model simulations. It assessed shifts in flood risk as a function of projected warming and precipitation changes.

Theme
Climate & resilience
Subject
Climate & greenhouse gas mitigation
Study type
Research
Study design
Modelling study
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
United States
System type
Other
DOI
10.1038/s41558-018-0236-4
Catalogue ID
BFmor3gf2d-wgi302

Topic tags

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