Affiliation:
1. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science ETH Zurich Zurich Switzerland
2. WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF Davos Dorf Switzerland
3. Climate Change Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC Davos Dorf Switzerland
Abstract
AbstractFloods following on streamflow droughts can have severe impacts. While they have been prominently featured by the media in recent years, we know little about their spatio‐temporal variability. In this study, we analyze the occurrence and drivers of such drought‐to‐flood transitions by calculating transition lengths from droughts to floods for natural and regulated catchments across the Contiguous United States between 1970 and 2022. We find that drought‐to‐flood transitions strongly vary in their lengths and their spatial distribution. We identify snowmelt as the main driver of transitions in high‐elevation catchments, while transitions in low‐elevation catchments are more variable in their time of occurrence and drivers. Reservoir management reduces the number of short drought‐to‐flood transitions, particularly in catchments with a high amount of snow where snowmelt is crucial for filling reservoirs in early summer. These findings suggest that projected changes in the snowmelt season will lead to changes in transitions from streamflow droughts to floods and that reservoir management may be used to adapt to these changes.
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)