Impact, drivers and pathways of two Arctic atmospheric rivers in April 2020

Avilés-Podgurski, Luisa E.; Martineau, Patrick; Lu, Hua; Yamamoto, Ayako; Maycock, Amanda C.; Orr, Andrew; Phillips, Tony; Bracegirdle, Thomas J.; Hogg, Anna E.; Muszynski, Grzegorz; Fleming, Andrew

doi:10.5194/wcd-7-1051-2026

Articles | Volume 7, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-1051-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-1051-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 7, issue 2

Research article

|

25 Jun 2026

Research article |

| 25 Jun 2026

Impact, drivers and pathways of two Arctic atmospheric rivers in April 2020

Luisa E. Avilés-Podgurski, Patrick Martineau, Hua Lu, Ayako Yamamoto, Amanda C. Maycock, Andrew Orr, Tony Phillips, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Anna E. Hogg, Grzegorz Muszynski, and Andrew Fleming

Data sets

Complete ERA5 global atmospheric reanalysis Copernicus Climate Change Service https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.143582cf

Met City meteorological and surface flux measurements (Level 3 Final), Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC), central Arctic, October 2019–September 2020 Christopher Cox et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2PV6B83F

Merged Datasets for the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) Central Observatory in the Arctic Ocean (2019-2020) version 2 David Clemens-Sewall et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2WD3Q35Z

[Data] Global Atmospheric Rivers Database Bin Guan https://doi.org/10.25346/S6/ZSW7UN

Short summary

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are narrow filaments of intense poleward water vapour transport. On rare occasions, they reach the Arctic, driving strong warming and melt. In April 2020, two ARs intruded into the central Arctic within one week, raising near-surface temperatures by up to 30°C and leading to extreme precipitation. Their distinct paths and thermodynamic evolution reveal diverse AR impacts on Arctic sea ice and precipitation extremes.