Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUS
The co-occurrence of freezing rain, ice accumulation and wind gusts (FZG) poses a significant hazard to infrastructure and transportation. However, quantification of the frequency and intensity of FZG is challenged by the lack of direct icing measurements. In this work, we evaluate and then apply an...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad30a4 |
| _version_ | 1797261677850263552 |
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| author | Jacob Coburn Rebecca J Barthelmie Sara C Pryor |
| author_facet | Jacob Coburn Rebecca J Barthelmie Sara C Pryor |
| author_sort | Jacob Coburn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The co-occurrence of freezing rain, ice accumulation and wind gusts (FZG) poses a significant hazard to infrastructure and transportation. However, quantification of the frequency and intensity of FZG is challenged by the lack of direct icing measurements. In this work, we evaluate and then apply an energy balance model to high-frequency data collected during 2005–2022 to derive hourly ice accumulation at 883 stations across the contiguous USA. These estimates are combined with wind gust observations to compute time series of hourly FZG hazard magnitude using the Sperry–Piltz Ice Accumulation (SPIA) index. Results are evaluated using Storm Reports of damage and economic disruption. The hourly SPIA estimates are also used to (i) derive a geospatial atlas of the hazard including the 50 yr return period event intensities for each US state derived using superstations, and (ii) describe storylines of significant events in terms of meteorological drivers and socioeconomic impacts. The highest values of SPIA during the 18 yr study period occur in a region extending from the Southern Great Plains over the Midwest into the densely populated Northeast. States in these regions also have high 50 yr return period maximum radial ice accumulation of 3–5 cm and co-occurring wind gusts >30 ms ^−1 . These values are comparable to past estimates for the 500 yr event which may imply this hazard has been previously underestimated. This atlas can be used to inform optimal FZG hazard mitigation strategies for each state/region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T23:45:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f0e9c229c16345d8b765dbc7acee8601 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T23:45:02Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-f0e9c229c16345d8b765dbc7acee86012024-03-15T08:18:54ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262024-01-0119404401610.1088/1748-9326/ad30a4Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUSJacob Coburn0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0953-8117Rebecca J Barthelmie1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0403-6046Sara C Pryor2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4847-3440Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14853, United States of AmericaSibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14853, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14853, United States of AmericaThe co-occurrence of freezing rain, ice accumulation and wind gusts (FZG) poses a significant hazard to infrastructure and transportation. However, quantification of the frequency and intensity of FZG is challenged by the lack of direct icing measurements. In this work, we evaluate and then apply an energy balance model to high-frequency data collected during 2005–2022 to derive hourly ice accumulation at 883 stations across the contiguous USA. These estimates are combined with wind gust observations to compute time series of hourly FZG hazard magnitude using the Sperry–Piltz Ice Accumulation (SPIA) index. Results are evaluated using Storm Reports of damage and economic disruption. The hourly SPIA estimates are also used to (i) derive a geospatial atlas of the hazard including the 50 yr return period event intensities for each US state derived using superstations, and (ii) describe storylines of significant events in terms of meteorological drivers and socioeconomic impacts. The highest values of SPIA during the 18 yr study period occur in a region extending from the Southern Great Plains over the Midwest into the densely populated Northeast. States in these regions also have high 50 yr return period maximum radial ice accumulation of 3–5 cm and co-occurring wind gusts >30 ms ^−1 . These values are comparable to past estimates for the 500 yr event which may imply this hazard has been previously underestimated. This atlas can be used to inform optimal FZG hazard mitigation strategies for each state/region.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad30a4icing50 yr return periodSperry–Piltz Ice Accumulation indexgeospatial atlasmodel evaluation |
| spellingShingle | Jacob Coburn Rebecca J Barthelmie Sara C Pryor Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUS Environmental Research Letters icing 50 yr return period Sperry–Piltz Ice Accumulation index geospatial atlas model evaluation |
| title | Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUS |
| title_full | Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUS |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUS |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUS |
| title_short | Quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across CONUS |
| title_sort | quantifying the compound hazard of freezing rain and wind gusts across conus |
| topic | icing 50 yr return period Sperry–Piltz Ice Accumulation index geospatial atlas model evaluation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad30a4 |
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