Rosimar Rios-Berrios

In the News

Check out the list below for a complete list of media appearances. For requests contact me or contact NCAR & UCAR News.

High-Impact Hurricanes of 2018

Wall Street Journal article about Hurricane Florence [Link]

Discover Magazine article about tropical cyclone intensification [Link]

The Atlantic article on the Saffir-Simpson Scale [Link]

NBC News Mach video about hurricanes [Link]

The Palm Beach Post article on Hurricane Michael [Link]

Associated Press article on Hurricane Lane and climate change [Colombia] [Mexico] [Brazil] [Germany]

Personal

The Daily Camera: "Boulder hurricane scientists wed 9 months late due to historic storm" [Link]

UAlbany News: "Atmospheric Science Student Turns Childhood Experience into Exciting Future" [Link]

UPRM News: "Historias de éxito: Rosimar Ríos Berríos" [Link (spanish)]

Research

My research seeks to identify physical processes that govern the evolution of high-impact weather, especially tropical cyclones. My primary tools are numerical weather prediction models and observations collected by research aircrafts. Some noteworthy research projects are summarized below.

Tropical cyclone intensification under moderate shear

My PhD dissertation centered on the issue of tropical cyclone intensification under moderate vertical wind shear. Through case studies and a climatological analysis, this research demonstrated that thermodynamic conditions influence the chances of intensification under shear conditions typically deemed as unfavorable or detrimental. I expanded that research using idealized numerical simulations with high-frequency output to diagnose dynamic and thermodynamic processes preceding intensification.

Some publications about this work:

• Rios-Berrios, R., C. A. Davis, and R. D. Torn, 2018: A Hypothesis for the Intensification of Tropical Cyclones under Moderate Vertical Wind Shear J. Atmos. Sci., 75, 4149-4173. [Link]
• Rios-Berrios, R., and R. D. Torn, 2017: Climatological analysis of tropical cyclone intensity changes under moderate vertical wind shear. Mon. Wea. Rev., 145, 1717-1738. [Link]
• Rios-Berrios R., R. D. Torn, and C. A. Davis, 2016: An ensemble approach to investigate tropical cyclone intensification in sheared environments. Part II: Ophelia (2011). J. Atmos. Sci., , 73, 1555-1575. [Link]
• Rios-Berrios R., R. D. Torn, and C. A. Davis, 2016: An ensemble approach to investigate tropical cyclone intensification in sheared environments. Part I: Katia (2011). J. Atmos. Sci., 73, 71-93. [Link]

Satellite images of Hurricane Joaquin under the influence of vertical wind shear. Joaquin managed to intensify from a tropical storm (left) to a category-3 hurricane (right) in spite of being in a moderately sheared environment. Satellite images are courtesy of NRL.

Extreme rainfall from tropical storms

Water, not wind, is the leading cause of fatalities associated with tropical cyclones. Tropical Storm Erika of 2015 reminded us of the power of rainfall even the winds of a tropical cyclone are weak. More than 20 inches (or 500 mm) of rain fell over the Commonwealth of Dominica on August 27, 2015 as Tropical Storm Erika passed over the northern Lesser Antilles. In this study, Allison Nugent (from U. of Hawaii) and I investigate the combination of factors that led to such remarkable rainfall event. Vertical wind shear, a mesovortex, and terrain are amongst the factors that together favored continuous rain over the island.

Part of this work was recently published in the Monthly Weather Review journal:

• Nugent, A., and R. Rios-Berrios, 2018: Factors leading to extreme precipitation on Dominica from Tropical Storm Erika (2015). Mon. Wea. Rev., 146, 525-541. [Link]

Fig. 7 from Nugent and Rios-Berrios (2018) showing Tropical Storm Erika before its closest proximity to the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Sudden Stratospheric Warmings

Although not my area of specialty, I am also intersted in the link between tropical rainfall and sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). This interest was sparked by a case study of the January 2013 SSW, which was preceded by several events of anomalous poleward heat flux from the tropics to the high latitudes. Several questions remain, such as: what was the influence of tropical convection over the Indian Ocean in triggering persistent poleward heat flux during the week before the SSW?

Fig.1a from Attard et al. (2016) showing the evolution of 10-hPa zonal mean zonal wind at 65N. The SSW begins where the color changes from blue to red.

Check out our analysis of factors preceding the SSW 2013:

• Attard, H. E., R. Rios-Berrios, C. T. Guastini and A. L. Lang: Tropospheric and stratospheric precursors to the January 2013 sudden stratospheric warming. Mon. Wea Rev., 144,1321-1339. [Link]

Vita

Publications

Rios-Berrios, R., G. H. Bryan, B. Medeiros, F. Judt, and W. Wang: Differences in Tropical Rainfall in Aquaplanet Simulations with Resolved or Parameterized Deep Convection, under revisions for J. Adv. Mod. Earth Sys.

Rios-Berrios, R., F. Judt, G. H. Bryan, B. Medeiros, and W. Wang: Resolved Deep Convection Improves the Vertical Structure of Simulated Equatorial Waves in MPAS. in prep for J. Clim.

Núñez Ocasio, K. and R. Rios-Berrios: African Easterly Wave Evolution and Tropical Cyclogenesis in a pre-Helene (2006) Hindcast using the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Atmosphere (MPAS-A). In prep. for J. Adv. Model. Earth Sys.

Rios-Berrios, R., F. Judt, G. H. Bryan, C. Davis, and W. Wang: Exploring the Relationship between Kelvin Waves and Tropical Cyclogenesis in Convection-Permitting Aquaplanet Experiments. In prep. for J. Atmos. Sci.

Rios-Berrios, R., N. Sakaeda, H. J. Jimenez, A. Nieves-Jimenez, Y. Zayas-Rivera, E. Martin, S.-N. Wu, and C. Homeyer: Observing the Diurnal Cycle of Coastal Rainfall over Western Puerto Rico in Collaboration with University of Puerto Rico Students. In prep. (proposal approved) for Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.

Judt, F., and R. Rios-Berrios, 2021: Resolved Convection Improves the Representation of Equatorial Waves and Tropical Rainfall Variability in a Global Nonhydrostatic Model. Geophys. Res. Lett., 48 (14). [LINK]

Finocchio, P., and R. Rios-Berrios, 2021: The Intensity-and Size-Dependent Response of Tropical Cyclones to Increasing Vertical Wind Shear. J. Atmos. Sci., 78 (11). [LINK]

Lee, T.-Y., Wu, C.-C., and R. Rios-Berrios, 2021: The Role of Low-Level Flow Direction on Tropical Cyclone Intensity Changes in a Moderate-Sheared Environment. J. Atmos. Sci., 78 (9). [LINK]

Judt, F., D. Klocke, R. Rios-Berrios, and co-authors, 2021: Tropical cyclones in global storm-resolving models. J. Meteor. Soc. Jpn. [LINK]

Rios-Berrios, R., B. Medeiros, and G. H. Bryan, 2020: Mean Climate and Tropical Rainfall Variability in Aquaplanet Simulations Using the Model for Prediction Across Scales‐Atmosphere. J. Adv. Model. Earth Sys., 12 (10), e2020MS002102. [Link]

Rios-Berrios, R., 2020: Impacts of Radiation and Cold Pools on the Intensity and Vortex Tilt of Weak Tropical Cyclones Interacting with Vertical Wind Shear J. Atmos. Sci., 77, 669-689. [Link]

Wing, A. and co-authors, 2020: Clouds and convective self‐aggregation in a multimodel ensemble of radiative‐convective equilibrium simulations. J. Adv. Model. Earth Sys., 12 (9), e2020MS002138. [Link]

Rios-Berrios, R., C. A. Davis, and R. D. Torn, 2018: A Hypothesis for the Intensification of Tropical Cyclones under Moderate Vertical Wind Shear. J. Atmos. Sci., accepted. [Link]

Rios-Berrios, R., C. A. Davis, and R. D. Torn, 2018: A Hypothesis for the Intensification of Tropical Cyclones under Moderate Vertical Wind Shear. J. Atmos. Sci., 75, 4149-4173. [Link]

Nugent, A., and R. Rios-Berrios, 2018: Factors leading to extreme precipitation on Dominica from Tropical Storm Erika (2015). Mon. Wea. Rev., 146, 525-541. [Link]

Rios-Berrios, R., and R. D. Torn, 2017: Climatological analysis of tropical cyclone intensity changes under moderate vertical wind shear. Mon. Wea. Rev., 145, 1717-1738. [Link]

Tang, B., R. Rios-Berrios, J. Alland, J. Berman, and K. Corbosiero, 2016: Sensitivity of axisymmetric tropical cyclone spin-up time to dry air aloft. J. Atmos. Sci., 73(11), 4269-4287. [Link]

Opportunities

I am indebted to a number of programs that trained me one way or another in research, communication, and leadership. To help students who are looking to advance those skills, I have compiled a list of scholarships, fellowships, internships, and other programs aimed at students in the atmospheric and related sciences. This list is far from complete, but you can access it here.

Are you a student interested in visiting NCAR? Check out these fully-funded opportunities:

• SOARS: an undergraduate-to-graduate internship program and community for students from underrepresented communities in the atmospheric sciences.

• NCAR undergraduate leadership workshop: a week-long workshop about careers and leadership in the atmospheric sciences.

• ASP Graduate Visitor Program: a visitor program for graduate students looking to spend 3 months or more working on their graduate research in collaboration with NCAR scientists

• ASP Summer Colloquium: a two-week-long program designed to expose graduate students (and some post docs) to special topics in atmospheric sciences. The topic changes every year.

For those of you finishing your PhD soon:

• ASP Postdoctoral Fellowship: a postdoctoral opportunity for conducting independent research for up to 2 years at NCAR.

• Other postdoctoral and job opportunities will be posted here.

Students or post docs with funding to cover the costs of travel and housing are always welcome to visit us. We also have limited funded opportunities for scientists or faculty interested in visiting NCAR to initiate or continue collaborative research.

Contact me if you have any questions or if you wish to discuss those opportunities in more detail.

Quick view - PR forecasts
(NASA/OU/NCAR project)

NWS San Juan Products

NAM Meteograms

Latest cycle

Previous cycle