Future precipitation changes in California: Comparison of CMIP5 and CMIP6 intermodel spread and its drivers

Abstract

California is one of the major uncertainty hotspots for climate change, as climate models have historically been split between projecting wetter and drier future conditions over the region. We analysed the future (mid‐century and end‐century) projections of California's winter precipitation changes from the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), and studied its respective model agreement in comparison to the previous CMIP5 projections. Over northern California more than two thirds of the models in each ensemble agree on wetter future conditions. However, over southern California both ensembles show highly uncertain precipitation changes, with model projections almost equally divided between wetter or drier conditions. Projected end‐century precipitation changes range from −30% to +70% in CMIP5 and −20% to +80% in CMIP6. The CMIP6 ensemble mean changes are generally wetter and show larger model disagreement compared to CMIP5. Distribution of year‐to‐year precipitation indicates more extremely wet or dry years over southern California in CMIP6 compared to CMIP5, with some models suggesting that the five wettest years account for as much as ~55% of the 20‐year rainfall, and the five driest for as little as ~5%. Dynamically, both ensembles project weakened subsidence over Baja California that is stronger in CMIP6 than in CMIP5, in line with the wetter mean conditions in CMIP6. In the western tropical Pacific we find strengthening of the Hadley circulation in CMIP6 that is not seen in CMIP5, and more El Niño than La Niña conditions in the equatorial Pacific. More CMIP6 models also project an increase in ENSO events compared to CMIP5, and a stronger impact of ENSO on California's precipitation is found in CMIP6 than in CMIP5. These factors also contribute to larger model disagreement and more extremely wet or dry years over southern California in CMIP6.

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