Average Precipitation Intensity Research Articles

Abnormal Precipitation Before the Landslide in Akhaldaba (A Suburb of Tbilisi, Georgia) on June 13, 2015 According to Radar Measurements

Results of the analysis of radar measurements of precipitation intensity (P) preceding the landslide in the vicinity of Akhaldaba (a suburb of Tbilisi, Georgia) on June 13, 2015 from 21.00 to 23.97 h are presented. In particular, the following results are obtained. Time-series of precipitation intensity under zone with the maximum radar reflectivity of the cloud has the form of a fifth power of polynomial. Time series of areas of precipitation of different intensity under the cloud were obtained and their statistical characteristics were studied. Dependence of the average intensity of precipitation under the cloud on the effective radius from the zone with the maximum radar reflectivity is obtained.
 Statistical characteristics of precipitation intensity over the center of the landslide top is presented. Sum of precipitation under zone with the maximum radar reflectivity of the cloud and over the center of the landslide top on 13 June 2015 from 21.00 to 23.97 h and before landslide from 21.00 to 22.45 h is assessed.

Relationship and Variability of Atmospheric Precipitation Characteristics in the North-West of Ukraine

The paper deals with the issues of differentiation of atmospheric precipitation into gradations according to their characteristics and established meteorological practices. The division of atmospheric precipitation into gradations allows one to have an idea of the possible consequences of their fallout on life in the area. The dependence of the average intensity of precipitation on their duration for the entire series of observations is not described by a power-law dependence with a sufficient degree of reliability, and when differentiating into gradations according to the amount of precipitation (< 2.5 mm, 2.5-10 mm, ≥ 10 mm), the dependences are obtained with a high degree of correlation. The scatter of points can be explained by the presence of intermediate categories of precipitation, which does not take into account the accepted division of the data. Thus, for large values of the amount of precipitation, the existence of a separate curve is possible, since the existing classifications of precipitation imply the division of heavy showers into separate gradations. Differentiation of rains by their duration shows a stronger stratification of the field of points for shorter rains (up to 60 minutes). This stratification of the field of points is successfully differentiated into shorter segments of 20, 30 minutes. Associated with the greater heterogeneity of shorter precipitation, it can be both rains of low intensity and heavy downpours of short duration. The probability of the position of the maximum intensity of precipitation during rain has more significant differences for precipitation less than 2.5 mm (the curves are more curved). For rains with a precipitation amount of 2.5 mm or more, the probability curves approach straight lines, which is associated with greater heterogeneity of precipitation less than 2.5 mm.

The influence of vegetation on the microstructure and erosivity of precipitation

The process of precipitation interception, in which vegetation retains precipitation, has a major influence on natural processes such as soil erosion. Assessing this influence requires measurements of the microstructure of precipitation using modern instruments that allow measurements of the velocity, size, and number of raindrops. The precipitation microstructure data were obtained using 1-minute measurements from three optical disdrometers placed under the birch canopy, under the black pine canopy and above the canopies. In the period under consideration between 12 July 2022 and 16 February 2023, 48 rainfall events were recorded, for which the duration, the amount of precipitation, the average intensity of precipitation, and the characteristics of the raindrops (size, velocity, and number of drops) were calculated. Additionally, the kinetic energy (KE), the maximum 30-minute intensity (max I30), and the rainfall erosivity factor (R) were calculated. All these variables were calculated for measurements above and below the tree canopies. The results show that the proportion of intercepted precipitation decreases with the duration of the events for both birch and pine. Droplets increased on average during the leafed period, as they passed through the tree canopy, and decreased during the leafless period. During the entire period, the diameter of the droplets increased on average by 46% under birch and by 26% under black pine. The droplet velocity decreased on average by 38% under the pine, while it increased minimally under the birch by 1%, which is the result of an increase in the average velocity under the birch during the leafless period by 7%. The analysis of the results shows that the rainfall interception has a large impact on soil erosion, as, for example, the rainfall erosivity factor (R) under birch decreased by 43% and under pine by 90%.

Research on Rainfall Characteristics in Zhengzhou Based on Pearson Correlation Analysis and Moving Average Method

The occurrence of flood disasters is related to persistent heavy rainfall anomalies. Under the influence of climate anomalies, the rainfall, rainfall intensity and frequency in Zhengzhou have been rising in recent decades. In order to further describe the rainfall characteristics in Zhengzhou area, Pearson correlation analysis and moving average method are used to analyze the characteristics of precipitation in Zhengzhou from 1973 to 2020 from the Total amount, intensity and duration of precision. The results show that during this period, the average annual precision in Zhengzhou was 660 mm, and the top three years were 2003, 2016 and 1983. The annual average precipitation intensity in Zhengzhou is 3.12 mm/d, And the linear tendentiousness trends of heavy rain and torrential rain are -0.0008 d/a and -0.005 d/a respectfully. The above research in this paper can provide reference for the urban response plan and long-term construction planning under extreme precipitation conditions.

The Role of Anthropogenic Forcing in Western United States Hydroclimate Extremes

AbstractDespite lower‐than‐average total precipitation in the western states of the U.S., the 2021 “precipitation roller coaster” defined as large precipitation swings has pointed to a strong hydroclimatic intensity (HYINT). Here we examine the 2021 HYINT using an index—a product of the average precipitation intensity (INT) and dry spell length (DSL). HYINT exhibited an extremely high value in the western U.S. in 2021. INT and DSL contribute differently to the 2021 HYINT, with large spatial variability. Overall, the 2021 extreme HYINT in central California and Utah is tied more to large INT, than to DSL. Meanwhile, the historical trends in INT and DSL may have contributed to the extreme 2021 HYINT event. The fraction of attributable risk framework reveals that the 2021 extreme HYINT is more likely to occur with anthropogenic forcing (e.g., 7.3 times more likely for HYINT exceeding 1.3) than natural forcing alone.

ICE COVER OF THE EUROPEAN SECTOR OF THE ARCTIC AND SURFACE HEIGHTS OF THE ATLANTIC INNER SEAS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE BLACK SEA)

ICE COVER OF THE EUROPEAN SECTOR OF THE ARCTIC AND SURFACE HEIGHTS OF THE ATLANTIC INNER SEAS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE BLACK SEA)

Climatology and changes in hourly precipitation extremes over China during 1970–2018

Sub-daily precipitation extremes could intensify with temperature at a higher rate than the scaling for daily precipitation extremes, posing increasing risks to natural ecosystem and human society in the era of global warming. A systematic investigation of the climatology and spatiotemporal changes in sub-daily precipitation extremes is of paramount importance to inform future precipitation projection as well as to guide climate adaptation. Here, leveraging a newly proposed set of sub-daily extreme precipitation indices, we examine the climatology and changes in hourly precipitation extremes in mainland China across the major river basins during the warm period of 1970–2018. Our results show that the southern and eastern parts of China tend to experience more frequent hourly precipitation extremes with larger intensity, and the Pearl river basin has the most frequent and intense extreme precipitation at hourly timescale. The Southeast and Yangtze river basins and the mainland China as a whole have field significantly increasing trends in average and extreme precipitation intensities as well as in extreme precipitation frequencies. The intensification signals in hourly precipitation extremes of mainland China seem to emerge from internal climate variability around 2010, whereas average precipitation intensity since 1970 could become field significant earlier than 1999. Besides, we note a marked shift in the probability distributions of the extreme indices, with a wetting tendency toward more frequent and more intense precipitation extremes from the 1970–1999 period to the recent two decades in the 21st century. Our findings provide an alternative line of evidence for changes in precipitation extremes at hourly timescale over China and could contribute to societal decision-making for climate adaptation.

Eliminating the “hook” in Precipitation-Temperature Scaling

AbstractObservational studies of extreme daily and subdaily precipitation-temperature sensitivities (apparent scaling) aim to provide evidence and improved understanding of how extreme precipitation will respond to a warming climate. However, interpretation of apparent scaling results is hindered by large variations in derived scaling rates and divergence from theoretical and modelled projections of systematic increases in extreme precipitation intensities (climate scaling). In warmer climatic regions, rainfall intensity has been reported to increase with temperature to a maximum before decreasing, creating a second order discontinuity or “hook” like structure. Here we investigate spatial and temporal discrepancies in apparent scaling results by isolating rainfall events and conditioning event precipitation on duration. We find that previously reported negative apparent scaling at higher temperatures which creates the hook structure, is the result of a decrease in the duration of the precipitation event, and not to the decrease in precipitation rate. We introduce standardized pooling using long records of Australian station data across climate zones, to show average precipitation intensities and 1-h peak precipitation intensities increase with temperature across all event durations and locations investigated. For shorter duration events (< 6-h), average precipitation intensity scaling is in line with the expected Clausius- Clapeyron (CC) relation at ~7 %/°C, and this decreases with increasing duration, down to 2 %/°C at 24-h duration. Consistent with climate scaling derived from model projections, 1-h peak precipitation intensities are found to increase with temperature at elevated rates compared to average precipitation intensities, with super-CC scaling (10 – 14 %/°C) found for short-duration events in tropical climates.

How do different sensors impact IMERG precipitation estimates during hurricane days?

Ground observation absence in many parts of the world highlights the importance of merged satellite precipitation products. In this study, we aim to evaluate the effect of different sources of data in the uncertainties of a merged satellite product, by comparing the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) Final product (V06B) with a ground-based radar product, Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS), using both pixel-based and object-based approaches. This study is focused on the eastern United States (land-only) during the hurricane days that occurred in 2016–2018. The results showed that IMERG had better agreement in terms of the average precipitation intensity and area with a bias reduction of 75% and 65%, respectively, when the passive microwave (PMW) sensor overpass is matched instantaneously with MRMS compared to temporally averaged MRMS data (MRMS-Averaged). PMW observations tend to show storms with smaller areas in the IMERG Final product in comparison with MRMS, possibly due to the effect of light precipitation not detected properly by PMW sensors. However, by removing the light precipitation (less than 1 mm/h) in the object-based approach, hurricane objects in the IMERG Final product tend to be larger during the PMW observations, which might be related to different viewing angles of sensors contributing to MRMS and IMERG products. Precipitation estimates have smaller areas with higher average intensity during the PMW observations in the IMERG Final product compared to data estimated by Morphed or IR (morph/IR) observations, which is probably related to the effect of morphing technique, leading to homogenization of the varying rainstorm characteristics. In addition, with the longer absence of PMW observations, the quality of morph/IR estimates in IMERG Final product deteriorates with a decreasing correlation coefficient, a growth in precipitation area and a downward trend in average precipitation intensity. Finally, the inter-comparison of PMW sensors showed the priority of imagers over sounders with GMI as the best among imagers and MHS as the best among sounders in terms of correlation and average intensity compared to MRMS; however, SSMIS was the best in capturing the precipitation area.

Are Storm Characteristics the Same When Viewed Using Merged Surface Radars or a Merged Satellite Product?

AbstractHigh-resolution datasets offer the potential to improve our understanding of spatial and temporal precipitation patterns and storm structures. The goal of this study is to evaluate the similarities and differences of object-based storm characteristics as observed using space- or land-based sensors. The Method of Object-based Diagnostic Evaluation (MODE) Time Domain (MTD) is used to identify and track storm objects in two high-resolution merged datasets: the Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) final product V06B and gauge-corrected ground-radar-based Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) quantitative precipitation estimations. Characteristics associated with landfalling hurricanes were also examined as a separate category of storm. The results reveal that IMERG and MRMS agree reasonably well across many object-based storm characteristics. However, there are some discrepancies that are statistically significant. MRMS storms are more concentrated, with smaller areas and higher peak intensities, which implies higher flash flood risks associated with the storms. On the other hand, IMERG storms can travel longer distances with a higher volume of precipitation, which implies higher risk of riverine flooding. Agreement between the datasets is higher for faster-moving hurricanes in terms of the averaged intensity. Finally, MRMS indicates a higher average precipitation intensity during the hurricane’s lifetime. However, in non-hurricanes, the opposite result was observed. This is likely related to MRMS having higher resolution; monitoring the hurricanes from many viewing angles, leading to different signal saturation properties compared to IMERG; and/or the dominance of droplet aggregation effects over evaporation effects at lower altitudes.

Precipitation trends over the southern Andean Altiplano from 1981 to 2018

This study undertakes a spatio-temporal assessment of the annual and seasonal precipitation trends over the Desaguadero-Poopó (DP) system in Bolivia for the period 1981–2018. Given the insufficient spatial density of meteorological stations in the study, the high-spatial resolution Climate Hazards group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) satellite product was used. CHIRPS precipitation data was validated against 7,636 gauge measurements and used to map the spatial distribution of precipitation trends. In addition, the temporal changes in the onset, duration and average intensity of the wet season were explored. Results showed a good, statistically significant agreement between CHIRPS data and onsite records of monthly precipitation at the pixel and regional scales. The spatio-temporal precipitation assessment revealed that statistically significant increases in annual precipitation (2–6 mm yr−1) occurred in two zones at the north and north-western part of the DP system. Only the southern part showed decreasing precipitation trends at a rate of −1 mm yr−1 while the central part did not show significant changes. Overall, a general increasing trend of about 2.5 mm yr−1 was observed for the entire DP system during the 38-year study period, with the months of December and February showing the highest significant increases. The analysis of the onset and cessation times of the rainy season indicated a statistically significant decrease in its duration at a rate of −0.4 day yr−1 and an increment of the average precipitation intensity. Our results reveal trend in the temporal concentration of precipitation in a water scarce region, which highlights the need for the management of the resource, so it can meet societal and environmental demands throughout the year.

Identifying changing precipitation extremes in Sub-Saharan Africa with gauge and satellite products

Sparse gauge networks in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) limit our ability to identify changing precipitation extremes with in situ observations. Given the potential for satellite and satellite-gauge precipitation products to help, we investigate how daily gridded gauge and satellite products compare for seven core climate change precipitation indices. According to a new gauge-only product, the Rainfall Estimates on a Gridded Network (REGEN), there were notable changes in SSA precipitation characteristics between 1950 and 2013 in well-gauged areas. We examine these trends and how these vary for wet, intermediate, and dry areas. For a 31 year period of overlap, we compare REGEN data, other gridded products and three satellite products. Then for 1998–2013, we compare a set of 12 satellite products. Finally, we compare spatial patterns of 1983–2013 trends across all of SSA. Robust 1950–2013 trends indicate that in well-gauged areas extreme events became wetter, particularly in wet areas. Annual totals decreased due to fewer rain days. Between 1983 and 2013 there were positive trends in average precipitation intensity and annual maximum 1 d totals. These trends only represent 15% of SSA, however, and only one tenth of the main wet areas. Unfortunately, gauge and satellite products do not provide consensus for wet area trends. A promising result for identifying regional changes is that numerous satellite products do well at interannual variations in precipitation totals and number of rain days, even as well as some gauge-only products. Products are less accurate for dry spell length and average intensity and least accurate for annual maximum 1 d totals. Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (3B42-V7) and Climate Hazards center Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS v2.0) ranked highest for multiple indices. Several products have seemingly unrealistic trends outside of the well-gauged areas that may be due to influence of non-stationary systematic biases. Social media abstract. Sparse data show increasing Africa rainfall extremes and satellite products fill some missing pieces.

Hydrologic controls of controlled and free draining subsurface drainage systems

One of the strategies proposed for reducing nitrate losses from subsurface tile drain systems in Midwestern agricultural lands, controlled drainage, is known to reduce drain flow on an annual basis, but is not well understood for individual events. Understanding hydrologic controls that regulate outflow from free and controlled drainage systems during drainage events can offer improved insight on the overall functioning of these systems so that they can be better managed or retrofitted to increase their environmental benefits. This study used data from a monitoring site in east central Indiana to investigate the hydrology of 22 drainage events in free and controlled subsurface drainage systems. Relationships between event drainage volume, drain flow hydrograph metrics, column soil moisture, water table depth, and precipitation time series for each event were explored to determine the effect of precipitation characteristics and antecedent conditions on these metrics. Controlled drainage reduced event drainage volume and peak flows by 22% ± 12% and 29% ± 16% respectively, and increased the time to peak of drainage by 98% ± 52%. Higher total precipitation and precipitation time spread increased infiltration, while the average precipitation intensity did not correlate with drainage volumes in either system. Peak flow rate in free draining quadrants were positively affected by higher precipitation and average precipitation intensity, while in managed quadrants, the antecedent soil moisture appeared to be more influential in affecting peak flow rate than precipitation characteristics. Surface runoff potential increased with the increase in average precipitation intensity in all quadrants. Saturation excess ponding or possibly overland flow occurred in events that have a low average precipitation intensity, and a high precipitation time spread. Field observations indicate that saturation excess overland flow was more pronounced in controlled quadrants because water table levels rose higher than the water table levels of their free draining counterpart.

Spatiotemporal variations in precipitation across the Chinese Mongolian plateau over the past half century

Precipitation, as affected by climate change, controls the growth of steppe grasses and grassland degradation/desertification in semiarid/arid regions, including the Chinese Mongolian plateau. This study examined the spatial variability and temporal trends in precipitation across the plateau in terms of four indexes: total precipitation (P), number of rainy days (Wd), number of precipitation events (N), and average precipitation intensity (Imean). Although seldom published in the literature, this information is vital for efforts to develop adaptive measures to sustain this vulnerable pasture economy. Seven hundred time series were formulated by preprocessing the data on daily precipitation over the period 1960 to 2012 at 25 weather stations scattered across the plateau. The results indicated that although the plateau was becoming drier overall, the intensity of storm events increased markedly, as indicated by decreasing trends for P, Wd and N but an increasing trend for Imean. On average, P decreased by 0.65mmyr−1 over the study period, while Imean increased by 0.2mmd−1yr−1. Across the plateau, the western part was becoming wetter, while the central-eastern part was becoming drier. This spatial discrepancy in the precipitation trends was particularly obvious in the winter dry season, with Imean tending to increase more rapidly in the central-eastern than western part, especially in the spring dry season. It is expected that these trends will continue, thus further challenging the already vulnerable eco-environment of the plateau.

Assessing spatial precipitation uncertainties in a convective‐scale ensemble

New techniques have recently been developed to quantify the location‐dependent spatial agreement between ensemble members, and the spatial spread–skill relationship. In this article a summer of convection‐permitting ensemble forecasts are analysed to better understand the factors influencing location‐dependent spatial agreement of precipitation fields and the spatial spread–skill relationship over the UK. The aim is to further investigate the agreement scale method, and to highlight the information that could be extracted for a more long‐term routine model evaluation. Overall, for summer 2013, the UK 2.2 km grid spacing ensemble system was found to be reasonably well spread spatially, although there was a tendency for the ensemble to be overconfident in the location of precipitation. For the forecast lead times considered (up to 36 h), a diurnal cycle was seen in the spatial agreement and in the spatial spread–skill relationship: the forecast spread and error did not increase noticeably with forecast lead time. Both the spatial agreement and the spatial spread–skill were dependent on the fractional coverage and average intensity of precipitation. A poor spread–skill relationship was associated with a low fractional coverage of rain and low average rain rates. The times with a smaller fractional coverage, or lower intensity, of precipitation were found to have lower spatial agreement. The spatial agreement was found to be location dependant, with higher confidence in the location of precipitation to the northwest of the UK.

Требования к сельскохозяйственному производству и рациональному природопользованию в условиях Азербайджанской Республики

The article was justified the development and introduction of irrigated agriculture watersaving technologies aimed at improving the efficiency of irrigation water use. With the advent of irrigated land in the village Gilyazi of modern sprinkler technologies, there was a need for its adaptation soil and climatic conditions of the region, which was the basis for carrying out research work on the sciencebased technologies with modern irrigation sprinkler Valley machines and circular front steps. Found that machines with circular Valley, there are two modifikacija: towed and nabukera (stationary) system of Valley. The number of support trucks: abuccima – up to 24 towed up to 9. Machine length, m: abuccima – to 857, towed up to 457. Water consumption 6...220 l/s (conditional limitation). The pressure at the hydrant...to 0.13 MPa 1.0 (although 1.0 MPa is very high pressure and normal pressure is in the range of 0.4...0.5 MPa). The average intensity of precipitation: 60...100 mm/h or 1...of 1.67 mm/min (sometimes more or less. depends on average rate of irrigation and type of sprinklers). Was done scientific justification on the selection of sprinklers Valley for irrigation of agricultural crops in the Khizi district of Azerbaijan Republic. Described terms of conducting research. The main limitations on the conditions of use of machines such as Valley.

Can climate models represent the precipitation associated with extratropical cyclones?

Extratropical cyclones produce the majority of precipitation in many regions of the extratropics. This study evaluates the ability of a climate model, HiGEM, to reproduce the precipitation associated with extratropical cyclones. The model is evaluated using the ERA-Interim reanalysis and GPCP dataset. The analysis employs a cyclone centred compositing technique, evaluates composites across a range of geographical areas and cyclone intensities and also investigates the ability of the model to reproduce the climatological distribution of cyclone associated precipitation across the Northern Hemisphere. Using this phenomena centred approach provides an ability to identify the processes which are responsible for climatological biases in the model. Composite precipitation intensities are found to be comparable when all cyclones across the Northern Hemisphere are included. When the cyclones are filtered by region or intensity, differences are found, in particular, HiGEM produces too much precipitation in its most intense cyclones relative to ERA-Interim and GPCP. Biases in the climatological distribution of cyclone associated precipitation are also found, with biases around the storm track regions associated with both the number of cyclones in HiGEM and also their average precipitation intensity. These results have implications for the reliability of future projections of extratropical precipitation from the model.

Changes in Indices of Daily Temperature and Precipitation Extremes in Northwest Nigeria

It’s a known fact that climate change will bring about increases in the occurrence of weather extreme events such as elevated temperature, drought, and floods; most especially in areas classified as hotspots to climate change – such as northwest Nigeria. This study investigates trends in extreme temperature and precipitation indices between 1971 and 2010 for six synoptic weather stations in northwest Nigeria. Results indicate that there have been statistically significant, spatially coherent trends in temperature indices that are related to temperature increases in the region. Significant, increasing trends have been found in the annual minimum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the annual maximum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the number of summer nights, and the number of days where daily temperature has exceeded its 90th percentile. Significant negative trends have been found in the number of days when daily temperature is below its 10th percentile and daily temperature range. Trends in precipitation indices, including the number of days with precipitation, the average precipitation intensity, and maximum daily precipitation events, are weak in general and do not show spatial coherence, with Kaduna showing decreasing trend. Keywords: Climate, Extremes, Trends, Temperature, Precipitation

Precipitation extremes over the continental United States in a transient, high‐resolution, ensemble climate model experiment

AbstractUnderstanding future changes in the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme events in response to increased greenhouse gas forcing is important for formulating adaptation and mitigation strategies that minimize damages to natural and human systems. We quantify transient changes in daily‐scale seasonal extreme precipitation events over the U.S. using a five‐member ensemble of nested, high‐resolution climate model simulations covering the 21st century in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) A1B scenario. We find a strong drying trend in annual and seasonal precipitation over the Southwest in autumn, winter, and spring and over the central U.S. in summer. These changes are accompanied by statistically significant increases in dry‐day frequency and dry‐spell lengths. Our results also show substantial increases in the frequency of extreme wet events over the northwestern U.S. in autumn, winter, and spring and the eastern U.S. in spring and summer. In addition, the average precipitation intensity increases relative to the extreme precipitation intensity in all seasons and most regions, with the exception of the Southeast. Further, most regions receive a greater fraction of total seasonal precipitation from extreme events. These results imply fewer but heavier precipitation events in the future, leading to more frequent wet and dry extremes in most regions of the U.S. Our simulations suggest that many of these changes are likely to become statistically significant by the mid‐21st century. Given current vulnerabilities, such changes in extreme precipitation could be expected to increase stress on water resources in many areas of the U.S., including during the near‐term decades.

A global evaluation of fronts and precipitation in the ACCESS model

How global precipitation will change in the future is of great socio-economic importance. It is therefore vital that climate models are able to adequately simulate the characteristics of precipitation and the individual precipitation events. Fronts play an important role in providing precipitation and they can be associated with heavy rain and flooding. In this paper the ACCESS1.3 atmosphere model is evaluated in terms of frontal and non-frontal precipitation. An objective front identification method is applied to data from reanalysis and the model. The fronts are then linked to daily precipitation from observational estimates and the model. The proportion of precipitation associated with fronts and the average intensity of precipitation associated with fronts are then calculated and compared. The frequency of fronts and the proportion of precipitation associated with fronts are well captured by the model. The intensity of precipitation when a front is present is underestimated by the model in most regions, consistent with many previous studies. Decomposing the total precipitation error into components associated with the frequency and intensity of both frontal and non-frontal precipitation shows that the non-frontal precipitation errors contribute the most to the total error, and that there are compensating errors in the model. This regimeand process-based method of model evaluation provides a useful tool to gain deeper understanding into the sources of precipitation errors in climate models.