Articles | Volume 7, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-1547-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-1547-2026
Research article
 | 
28 Aug 2026
Research article |  | 28 Aug 2026

Explaining monthly precipitation anomalies in northwestern South America by integrating vertical dynamics and energetics

Jose Obregon-Yataco

Cited articles

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Aliaga-Nestares, V., Rodriguez-Zimmermann, D., and Quispe-Gutiérrez, N.: Behavior of the ITCZ second band near the Peruvian coast during the 2017 coastal El Niño, Atmósfera, 36, 23–39, https://doi.org/10.20937/ATM.53063, 2023. a, b, c, d, e, f, g
Aybar, C., Fernández, C., Huerta, A., Lavado, W., Vega, F., and Felipe-Obando, O.: Construction of a high-resolution gridded rainfall dataset for Peru from 1981 to the present day, Hydrol. Sci. J., 65, 770–785, https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2019.1649411, 2019. a, b, c
Back, L. E. and Bretherton, C. S.: The relationship between wind speed and precipitation in the Pacific ITCZ, J. Climate, 18, 4317–4328, 2005. a, b, c, d, e, f
Bendix, J.: Precipitation dynamics in Ecuador and Northern Peru during the 1991/92 El Niño: a remote sensing perspective, Int. J. Remote Sens., 21, 533–548, 2000. a
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Short summary
Standard weather indices often fail to predict rainfall extremes in northwestern South America during El Niño events. To fix this, we developed the Buoyancy Work Rate, a new indicator combining heat energy with vertical air movement. Our analysis proves this method filters out false alarms, explaining why some warm years are dry while others cause massive floods. This provides a more reliable tool for early warning systems and disaster risk reduction in vulnerable coastal regions.
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