Extreme rainfall in New Zealand and its association with Atmospheric Rivers

Abstract

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are narrow and elongated regions of enhanced horizontal water vapour transport. Considerable research on understanding Northern Hemisphere ARs and their relationship with extreme precipitation has shown that ARs have a strong association with heavy rainfall and flooding. While there has been very little work on ARs in the Southern Hemisphere, global climatologies suggest that ARs are equally as common in both hemispheres. New Zealand in particular is located in a region of high AR frequency. This study aims to test the hypothesis that ARs play a significant role in heavy precipitation and flooding events in New Zealand. We used a recently developed AR identification method and daily station data across New Zealand to test for the concurrence of ARs and extreme rainfall. We found that, at each of the eleven stations analysed, at least seven to all ten of the top ten heaviest precipitation days between 1980 and 2018 were associated with AR conditions. Nine of the ten most damaging floods in New Zealand between 2007 and 2017 occurred during AR events. These results have important implications for understanding extreme rainfall in New Zealand, and ultimately for predicting some of the most hazardous events in the region. This work also highlights that more research on ARs in New Zealand is needed.

Keywords

• rainfall extremes
• atmospheric rivers
• New Zealand
• flooding