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Upper Yellowstone River Flow and Teleconnections with Pacific Basin Climate Variability
during the Past Three Centuries
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Upper Yellowstone River Flow and Teleconnections with Pacific Basin Climate Variability
during the Past Three Centuries. Climatic Change July 2003, Volume 59, Issue 1-2, pp.245-262. Lisa J. Graumlich, Michael F.J. Pisaric1, Lindsey A. Waggoner, Jeremy S. Littell2 and John C. King3 The Big Sky Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717
1 Present address: Department of Geography, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada KlS 5B6 |
| ABSTRACT: Climate variability, coupled with increasing demand is raising concerns about the sustainability of water resources in the western United States. Tree-ring reconstructions of stream flow that extend the observational record by several centuries provide critical information on the short-term variability and multi-decadal trends in water resources. In this study, precipitation sensitive Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzeisii) tree ring records are used to reconstruct annual flow of the Yellowstone River back to A.D. 1706. Linkages between precipitation in the Greater Yellowstone Region and climate variability in the Pacific basin were incorporated into our model by including indices Pacific Ocean interannual and decadal-scale climatic variability, namely the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Southern Oscillation. The reconstruction indicates that 20th century streamflow is not representative of flow during the previous two centuries. With the exception of the 1930s, streamflow during the 20th century exceeded average flows during the previous 200 years. The drought of the 1930s resulted in the lowest flows during the last three centuries, however, this probably does not represent a worst-case scenario for the Yellowstone as other climate reconstructions indicate more extreme droughts prior to the 18th century. |
| DATA: Download the reconstructed Upper Yellowstone River flow reconstruction from the WDC Paleo Archive. |
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Download Yellowstone River basin Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) data used in this study
from the
International Tree Ring Data Bank:
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| Site | Lat. (° N) | Long. (° W) | Elevation (m) | ||
| Yellow Mountain Ridge | 45° 17' | 111° 21' | 2440 | Chronology | Ringwidth Measurements |
| North Fork Ridge | 45° 17' | 111° 21' | 2440 | Chronology | Ringwidth Measurements |
| Mount Everets | 44° 59' | 110° 40" | 2560 | Chronology | Ringwidth Measurements |
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To read or view the full study, please visit the
Kluwer website. It was published in Climatic Change, July 2003, Volume 59, Issue 1-2, pp.245-262. |
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Contact Us National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 25 June 2003
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