ABSTRACT: A series of unfortunate events.

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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While it is understood the feedback mechanisms such as evapotranspiration (or, in the case of drought, the lack thereof) can have a significant impact on the presence and/or severity of drought, synoptic-scale forcing, if of sufficient magnitude, can over-ride these feedback mechanisms and either instigate or alleviate drought conditions. Therefore, the primary focus of this work is to understand the relative importance of the synoptic-scale on the modulation of the drought. Towards this end, the large-scale moisture transport by the synoptic-scale flow is examined. Also, the quasi-geostrophic forcing for ascent is calculated, and compared with the static stability of the atmosphere in terms of their relative importance for modulation of the precipitation in the region. Preliminary results indicate that this drought can not be characterized by a single pattern. At least three disparate flow regimes appear to contribute significantly to the most recent Prairies drought. Only one of these regimes consisted of stereotypical high amplitude ridging over northwestern Canada. Furthermore, the moisture transport trajectories for periods characterized by drought are largely from the west, indicating that moisture arriving in the area is mostly in the middle to upper-troposphere as lower-level moisture is “scoured” out by the higher terrain to the west. This is in comparison to periods characterized by average to above average precipitation, where moisture transport vectors have a more southerly component, indicating significant advection of low-level moisture into the Canadian Prairies from the Gulf Coast region of the United States.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology