Precipitation whiplash events are expected to become more frequent due to climate change, but what are they?
Drs. Esther Mullens and Johanna Engström investigate how whiplash events are defined, their meteorological drivers, and their impacts in the United States in their recent publication “Drought to Flood to Drought” published in the International Journal of Climatology.
The paper shows that definitions vary considerably in temporal extent, from the transition between wet and dry conditions happening in less than a week to over a year.
The climatological drivers and meteorological conditions creating precipitation whiplash events show significant diversity as well, both due to the varying event definitions and also due to the different geographical settings and range of scales of the studies.
A wide range of definitions, drivers and impacts are described here, allowing researchers to better understand the phenomenon that is precipitation whiplash while also creating a foundation for future studies to delve deeper into the topic.
Mullens, E., & Engström, J. (2025). Drought to Flood to Drought: A Review of Definitions of Precipitation Whiplash Events, What Causes Them and Their Impacts Over the Continental United States. International Journal of Climatology, e8850.