[ESAC Student Seminar] Paul Nicknish

“Winter Changes in the Whites”

Winters in New England, like they are in many places across the globe, are getting warmer and shorter. Since 1917, the Northeast has lost roughly three weeks of winter, and with warming trends expected to continue in the coming years and decades, significant challenges are potentially in store for the New England ecosystems and communities that rely on cold, snowy winters. In this work, we examine observed trends and variability in snow depth and other controlling variables in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire, USA. In the first part of the talk, I focus on quantifying intraseasonal variability in snow depth using the total harmonic distortion of the time series. While there is general consensus that snowpacks are getting shallower, developing later, and melting out sooner, trends in the variability of the snow depth throughout the season remain unexplored and have important implications for local ecosystems and recreation. In the second part of the talk, I explore how intraseasonal variability depends on other environmental factors such as temperature, rain-on-snow events, and local geography.

ESAC Student Seminar Series

A forum for students and postdocs to share recent research, hone presentation skills, and build community among peers, sponsored by the EAPS Student Advisory Committee. Open to current EAPS graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs. Typically hosted on Thursdays during the semester, including pizza lunch.

Contact: esac.officers@gmail.com