Field, geotechnical, and meteorological data of the 22 March 2018 narrow cold frontal rainband (NCFR) and its effects, Tuolumne River canyon, Sierra Nevada Foothills, California

Publication Date

2020-09-10

Time Period

2018-03-22

Corbett, S.C., Collins, B.D., Oakley, N.S., Perkins, J.P., East, A.E., and Hatchett, B.J., 2020, Field, geotechnical, and meteorological data of the 22 March 2018 narrow cold frontal rainband (NCFR) and its effects, Tuolumne River canyon, Sierra Nevada Foothills, California: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BU8FAQ.

Type: Related Primary Publication

Landscapes evolve in response to prolonged and/or intense precipitation resulting from atmospheric processes at various spatial and temporal scales. Whereas synoptic (large-scale) features (e.g., atmospheric rivers and hurricanes) govern regional-scale hydrologic hazards such as widespread flooding, mesoscale features such as thunderstorms or squall lines are more likely to trigger localized geomorphic hazards such as landslides. Thus, to better understand relationships between hydrometeorological drivers and landscape response, geomorphologists should be particularly aware of mesoscale meteorology and its impacts. Here we investigate the extreme geomorphic response associated with one type of mesoscale meteorological feature, the narrow cold frontal rainband (NCFR). Resulting from low-level convergence and shallow convection along a cold front, NCFRs are narrow bands of high-intensity rainfall that occur in mid-latitude areas of the world. Our study examines an NCFR impacting the Sierra Nevada foothills (California, USA) that initiated hundreds of landslides, mobilized several hundred thousand tonnes of sediment to the fluvial system (as much as 16 times the local annual sediment yield), and severely damaged local infrastructure and regional water-transport facilities. Coupling geomorphological field investigations with meteorological analyses, we demonstrate that precipitation associated with the NCFR was both intense and localized, resulting in a highly concentrated band of shallow landsliding. This meteorological phenomenon likely plays an important role in landscape evolution and hazard initiation. Other types of mesoscale meteorological features also occur globally and thus should be considered in attempts to understand the effects of storms on landscapes.

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