Articles | Volume 19, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1897-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1897-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 May 2025
Research article |
| 19 May 2025
| 19 May 2025
An unseasonal atmospheric river drives anomalous summer snow accumulation on glaciers of the subtropical Andes
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Valdivia, Chile
Sebastián Cisternas
School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
Maximiliano Viale
Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales CCT-CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina
Pablo Paredes
MSc. Program in Water Resources, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
Deniz Bozkurt
Departamento de Meteorología, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
Centro de Ciencia del Clima y Resiliencia (CR)2, Santiago, Chile
Center for Oceanographic Research COPAS COASTAL, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
Nicolás García-Lee
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Valdivia, Chile
MSc. Program in Water Resources, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
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We investigated periods when unusually warm conditions in Patagonia occurred at the same time as precipitation events on the Antarctic Peninsula. By combining observations and simulations, we identified 127 such events between 1980 and 2022. These events increased ice melt in Patagonia while enhancing accumulation on the Antarctic Peninsula, highlighting how large-scale weather patterns can simultaneously affect ice-covered regions in different ways.
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We investigated periods when unusually warm conditions in Patagonia occurred at the same time as precipitation events on the Antarctic Peninsula. By combining observations and simulations, we identified 127 such events between 1980 and 2022. These events increased ice melt in Patagonia while enhancing accumulation on the Antarctic Peninsula, highlighting how large-scale weather patterns can simultaneously affect ice-covered regions in different ways.
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Atmospheric blocking near Antarctica drives long lasting circulation anomalies and extreme events, yet it remains poorly understood. We created a new public dataset for 1979 to 2024 using global reanalysis data and several detection methods applied in a consistent way. We found strong method dependent differences in how often, where, and how long blocking occurs, showing that no single approach captures all forms of Antarctic blocking.
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This study analyses the 0 °C isotherm in Patagonia from 1959 to 2021, using observational and fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts atmospheric reanalysis data. The model aligns well with observations, highlighting significant altitude variations between the western and eastern sides of the austral Andes, a correlation between isotherm fluctuations and the Southern Annular Mode index, and an upward trend in the study area (especially in northwestern Patagonia).
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The glacier runoff changes are still unknown in most of the Andean catchments, thereby increasing uncertainties in estimating water availability, especially during the dry season. Here, we simulate glacier evolution and related glacier runoff changes across the Andes between 2000 and 2019. Our results indicate a glacier reduction in 93 % of the catchments, leading to a 12 % increase in glacier melt. These results can be downloaded and integrated with discharge measurements in each catchment.
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Short summary
We analysed the impact of a summer snow accumulation event linked to an atmospheric river in central Chile. Using observational and remote sensing data, we show that accumulation prevails in all the glaciers of the Maipo River basin, and this sole event defines the fact that the Olivares Alfa glacier mass balance was close to equilibrium despite it being a dry year. This demonstrates that an unseasonal accumulation event can counteract the seasonal trends affecting subtropical Andean glaciers.
We analysed the impact of a summer snow accumulation event linked to an atmospheric river in...
