Mississippi State University Scholars Junction Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1-1-2008 An Investigation of Tropical Rainfall Downwind of Urban Areas along the United States East Coast Ashley Marie Hayes Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td Recommended Citation Hayes, Ashley Marie, "An Investigation of Tropical Rainfall Downwind of Urban Areas along the United States East Coast" (2008). Theses and Dissertations. 603. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/603 This Graduate Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Scholars Junction. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Junction. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN INVESTIGATION OF TROPICAL RAINFALL DOWNWIND OF URBAN AREAS ALONG THE UNITED STATES EAST COAST By Ashley Marie Hayes A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Mississippi State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geosciences in the Department of Geosciences Mississippi State, Mississippi May 2008 AN INVESTIGATION OF TROPICAL RAINFALL DOWNWIND OF URBAN AREAS ALONG THE UNITED STATES EAST COAST By Ashley Marie Hayes Approved: __________________________________ __________________________________ P. Grady Dixon Jamie L. Dyer Assistant Professor of Geosciences Assistant Professor of Geosciences (Director of Thesis) (Committee Member) __________________________________ __________________________________ Michael E. Brown Christopher P. Dewey Associate Professor of Geosciences Associate Professor of Geosciences (Committee Member) Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Geosciences __________________________________ __________________________________ Darrel Schmitz Gary Myers Professor of Geosciences Professor and Interim Dean of the Professor and Head, College of Arts and Sciences Department of Geosciences Name: Ashley Marie Hayes Date of Degree: May 3, 2008 Institution: Mississippi State University Major Field: Department of Geosciences (Operational Meteorology) Major Professor: Dr. Paul Grady Dixon Title of Study: AN INVESTIGATION OF TROPICAL RAINFALL DOWNWIND OF URBAN AREAS ALONG THE UNITED STATES EAST COAST Pages in Study: 94 Candidate for Degree of Master of Science Studies have shown that urban areas enhance mesoscale precipitation but have not revealed if urban areas have the same effect on synoptic scale precipitation. This study used Multi-Precipitation Estimator (MPE) and Next-Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) stage III data to examine the effect of urban areas on rainfall associated with hurricanes and tropical storms from 1976–2005. These urban areas were divided into upwind and downwind areas where 6-hour precipitation totals were calculated and compared. Results displayed that 69.2% of urban areas had greater rainfall in the upwind area. Statistical analyses revealed that there is a larger range of higher precipitation values in the upwind area and a smaller range of lower precipitation values in the downwind area. Based on the results, there is no relationship between urban areas and enhanced rainfall; however, there is a relationship between the distribution of precipitation and urban areas. DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this research to my family and friends who have supported me in my dream of becoming a successful meteorologist. I would especially like to thank my mother, Marlene Riley. I will forever be grateful for all the encouragement, support, and love that she has given me throughout the years. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my thesis committee Dr. Grady Dixon, Dr. Jamie Dyer, and Dr. Michael Brown for all of their assistance throughout the course of this research. I would like to thank Dr. Kenneth Johnson and the staff at the National Weather Service Eastern Region Headquarters for all of their assistance during the summer of 2007. Also, I would like to personally thank Mr. Paul Trotter and the staff at the National Weather Service in Slidell, LA for teaching, inspiring, and encouraging me since 2003. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ...................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................. viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 OBJECTIVE AND HYPOTHESIS ........................................................... 4 II. LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................... 5 Landfall Effects on Tropical Rainfall ....................................................... 5 Urban Effects on Rainfall......................................................................... 6 III. DATA AND METHODS.......................................................................... 10 Research Area and Period ......................................................................... 10 Data .......................................................................................................... 12 Data Analyses ........................................................................................... 16 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION................................................................ 27 Hurricane Bertha – 1996 ........................................................................... 27 Baltimore-Towson, MD and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD ....................................................................... 28 Raleigh-Cary, NC.......................................................................... 29 Richmond, VA .............................................................................. 30 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC .......................... 31 Hurricane Bonnie – 1998 .......................................................................... 32 iv Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC .......................... 33 Hurricane Floyd – 1999............................................................................. 34 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC .......................... 35 Hurricane Fran – 1996 .............................................................................. 36 Greensboro-High Point, NC........................................................... 37 Raleigh-Cary, NC.......................................................................... 38 Hurricane Gaston – 2004........................................................................... 39 Charleston-North Charleston, SC................................................... 40 Tropical Storm Hermine – 2004 ................................................................ 41 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA, Worcester, MA and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH ........................... 42 Hurricane Isabel – 2003 ............................................................................ 43 Raleigh-Cary, NC.......................................................................... 44 Richmond, VA .............................................................................. 45 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC .......................... 46 Statistical Analyses ................................................................................... 47 V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ........................................................ 59 REFERENCES..................................................................................................... 63 APPENDIX A. REGIONAL VIEW OF 6-HOUR RAINFALL ESTIMATES ASSOCIATED WITH EACH URBAN AREA.............................. 67 B. FREQUENCY HISTOGRAM FOR EACH URBAN AREA..................... 81 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page 3.1 Tropical cyclones that made landfall along the East Coast from 1976–2005 ............................................................................................... 11 3.2 Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale ................................................................... 13 3.3 Urbanized Areas .......................................................................................... 15 4.1 Downwind and upwind storm total precipitation and the differences ............ 48 4.2 Level of significance for the difference between storm total precipitations in the downwind and upwind area. ........................................................... 49 4.3 Statistics for the upwind and downwind areas of Baltimore-Towson, MD and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD during Hurricane Bertha........................................................................... 51 4.4 Statistics for the upwind and downwind areas of Raleigh-Cary, NC during Hurricane Bertha........................................................................... 51 4.5 Statistics for the upwind and downwind areas of Richmond, VA during Hurricane Bertha........................................................................... 52 4.6 Statistics for the upwind and downwind areas of Virginia Beach- Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC during Hurricane Bertha ....................... 52 4.7 Statistics for the upwind and downwind areas of Virginia Beach- Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC during Hurricane