DOI: 10.5061/dryad.n2z34tn3c
title: Dynamically downscaled 15-minute U.S. West Coast precipitation (Part 1/3)

description: High-intensity, short-duration rainfall can trigger deadly and destructive
 debris flows in steep and severely burned terrain. Although we can
 identify rainfall thresholds to delineate the conditions for which
 postfire debris flows typically initiate, the spatial and temporal
 resolution of climate models has hampered our ability to characterize
 future trends in hazard potential. Here, we use novel dynamically
 downscaled, convection-permitting simulations of 15-minute rainfall to
 evaluate rainfall threshold exceedance for late 21st-century climate
 scenarios in the American Southwest. We observe significant increases in
 the frequency and magnitude of exceedance across the Southwest, including
 regions dominated by cool- and warm-season rainfall. We also observe
 greater increases in the frequency of exceedance in some regions where
 communities are less accustomed to contending with postfire debris flows,
 compared to areas where the hazard is well known. Our findings support
 proactive measures to save lives, mitigate damage, and increase resiliency
 to postfire debris flows under a changing climate. This is part 1 of the
 full dataset containing 15-minute rainfall over the historical period
 (1990–2005).
description: This is one of three datasets related to the same
 study: Part 1 (this dataset) contains
 15-minute rainfall over the historical period (1990–2005), https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n2z34tn3c Part 2 contains 15-minute rainfall over the late-century period (2085–2100) following the RCP4.5 emissions scenario, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qgn Part 3 contains 15-minute rainfall over the late-century period (2085–2100) following the RCP8.5 emissions scenario, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nvx0k6dzm
description: # Dynamically downscaled 15-minute U.S. West Coast precipitation (Part
 1/3) A novel,
 high-resolution, dynamically downscaled dataset that will help inform
 regional and local stakeholders regarding potential impacts of climate
 change at the scales necessary to examine extreme mesoscale conditions. We
 used WRF-ARW version 4.1.2 in a convection-permitting configuration
 (horizontal grid spacing of 3.75 km; 51 vertical levels; data output
 interval of 15-min) as a regional climate model for a domain covering the
 contiguous US Initial and lateral boundary forcing for the regional
 climate model originates from a global climate model simulation by NCAR
 (Community Earth System Model) that participated in phase 5 of the Coupled
 Model Intercomparison Project. Herein, we use a version of these data that
 are regridded and bias corrected. Three 15-year downscaled simulation
 epochs were examined comprising of historical (HIST; 1990–2005) and
 potential future (FUTR; 2085–2100) climate using Representative
 Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5. This is one of three datasets
 related to the same study: * Part 1 (this dataset) contains 15-minute
 rainfall over the historical period
 (1990–2005),  * Part 2
 contains 15-minute rainfall over the late-century period (2085–2100)
 following the RCP4.5 emissions
 scenario,  * Part 3
 contains 15-minute rainfall over the late-century period (2085–2100)
 following the RCP8.5 emissions
 scenario,  ## Description
 of the data and file structure Daily files with 15-minute output (96 times
 total per file) for the HIST period (1990–2005) **Grid** Latitude: 30–50ºN
 at ~0.04º grid spacing Longitude: 230–250ºE at ~0.05º grid spacing Grid:
 Original Lambert Conformal regridded to rectilinear **Variables** rain:
 15-minute rainfall accumulated between the previous time step and the
 current time (i.e., time step 2040-10-01-00-30-00 shows rainfall
 accumulated from 2040-10-01-00-15-00 to 2040-10-01-00-30-00) total_precip:
 same as rain, but for total precipitation including all p-types