Precipitable Water Over Canada: II Distribution

Abstract

The mean monthly distributions of total precipitable water over Canada, based on values computed for 168 locations, are presented and discussed. Attention is drawn to the existence of such quasi‐permanent features as the primary and secondary minima over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the Western Cordillera, respectively, and the strong zonal gradient in the precipitable water field over the west coast of Canada. As a consequence of the greater spatial sampling density (relative to that if only upper air data had been used in the calculation of precipitable water) mesoscale features, such as those associated with the influence of large water bodies, are illustrated. Finally, avenues for the application of the results obtained in this study and areas worthy of further research are reviewed.