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- A21B-2019: Extreme Isotopic Depletion in a Southeastern U.S. Snowstorm: A Case Study of 20-22 January 2025
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Board 2019‚ Hall EFG (Poster Hall)NOLA CC
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Vishal Juneja, Louisiana State University (First Author, Presenting Author)
Kristine DeLong, Louisiana State University
Gwendal Dolou, Louisiana State University
Huanping Huang, Louisiana State University
A rare, heavy snowstorm recently occurred in South-eastern coast that rarely sees snow, like Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We wanted to understand what made this storm so unusual. To do this, we analyzed the chemical fingerprint of the water in the snow that fell. Just like every person has a unique fingerprint, the water in rain and snow has a chemical signature (isotopes) that tells a story about where it came from and the journey it took. We found that the snow from this storm had a very unique signature—it was much more isotopically depleted than typical rain in the region. By pairing this finding with weather data, we discovered the storm was acting like a powerful atmospheric elevator, launching moist air high into the sky incredibly fast. This intense process effectively wrung out the heavier water (its heavy isotopes) more efficiently, leaving only the lightest water behind to fall as snow. This is why we measured such exceptionally light (or negative) values in our samples. This suggest that these water fingerprints are fantastic tools for seeing inside a storm, giving us valuable clues that can help scientists build better computer models to forecast extreme and unusual weather in the future.
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