Jessica Little wrote
The number of Significant Rain Events (SREs) were unusually high in Abbotsford, British Columbia from January to April 2018.
Using data collected from FlowWorks (a private environmental monitoring company), Abbotsford experienced 9 Significant Rain Events (SRE) from January to April 2018. This is an increase from 7 recorded from January to April 2017, and 4 during the same period in 2016. Statistics based on the past 30 years from The Weather Network (2018) note that the average “days with rainfall > 25 mm” in Abbotsford is 6 from January to April. An SRE is recognized by the City of Abbotsford as “any precipitation event, which meets or exceeds the intensity of 25 millimetres (m) per day” (City of Abbotsford, 2010, p.11).
The underlying phenomena that may be contributing to this high number of SREs are changes to the atmosphere and hydrosphere systems, and the exchange between the two brought on by a warming climate. Mote (2003) described that an acceleration of warming in the second half of the 20th century is pronounced in the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound Region, in which Abbotsford resides, and three of the warmest winters have been the result of El Niño events.
Events such as these may have a compound effects on other systems. For example, climate change scenarios conducted by Leung, et al. (2004) indicated that warming temperatures increase the frequency that precipitation presents as rainfall over snowfall, which in turn reduces the snow-albedo effect, further contributing to regional warming over coastal mountains. Their scenarios also indicate a decrease in precipitation frequency but an increase in extreme daily precipitation in the region.
An increase in the frequency of SRE’s may have negative implications on many of Abbotsford’s economic industries (e.g. development, agricultural, etc.) as well as increases pressure on multiple municipal systems (e.g. sanitary, stormwater management, etc.). Tracking the frequency and intensity of SRE’s will help the City of Abbotsford prepare for stressors that may arise from changes in the broader human and biophysical systems and it will increase their social-ecological resilience.
References
City of Abbotsford. (2010). Erosion and Sediment Control Bylaw No. 1989-2010. pp.1-11.
Leung, L.R., Qian, Y., Bian, X., Washington, W.M., Han, J., and, Roads, J.O. (2004). Mid-century regional climate change scenarios for the western United States. Climate Change. 62. pp.75-113. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands.
Mote, P.W. (2003). Twentieth-century fluctuations and trends in temperature, precipitation, and mountain snowpack in the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound Region. Canadian Water Resources. 28(4). pp.567-585. Retrieved from: http://doi.org/10.4296/cwrj2805467. Accessed April 18, 2018.
The Weather Network. (2018). [Forecast statistics: 2018 Precipitation](https:// www.theweathernetwork.com/forecasts/statistics/precipitation/cl1105192/cabc0006). Accessed April 18, 2018.
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