SPARC Workshop on Storm Tracks

Monday, August 24, 2015 to Friday, August 28, 2015
Event City: 
Grindelwald
Switzerland
Event Description: 

Storm tracks and jets, together with their modes of variability, affect the regional distribution of precipitation, temperature, and wind in the midlatitudes of both hemispheres. One of the most pressing questions regarding the impacts of climate change concerns how storm tracks will change. While comprehensive climate models predict a poleward shift of the zonal-mean midlatitude westerlies in response to global warming, observational evidence is mixed, and such a shift does not necessarily occur regionally, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.

The purpose of the workshop is to review recent advances on the dynamics of storm tracks, jets and their modes of variability and to address key questions related to the regional response to climate change. The workshop will focus on areas of research in which recent progress has been notable, along with emerging themes: characterization of storm track response to climate change, model hierarchies of the storm tracks, model biases, low-frequency variability, coupling to the cryosphere, ocean, stratosphere and tropics, coupling with moisture and clouds and connection to extreme events. It will feature invited speakers and contributed talks with an emphasis on discussion time during poster events and breakout discussions. We encourage participation of early career scientists who will be able to apply for limited travel funds. Space is limited. All participants must be registered.