Relationships between Northwest Flow Snowfall and Topography in the Southern Appalachians

This paper analyzes the relationships between northwest flow snowfall (NWFS) and various topographic and geographic (TOPO/GEOG) variables in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern U.S. We identify NWFS events on the basis of low-level wind direction, extract values for the TOPO/GEOG variables from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and develop statistical relationships between NWFS and the TOPO/GEOG variables. Results indicate that elevation and northwest exposure are most strongly correlated with NWFS; however, the strength of these relationships is mediated by temperature. We conclude that relationships between snowfall and topography are strengthened when event snowfall totals are explicitly linked to a low-level wind direction and associated synoptic pattern.