NOAA Arctic Report Card 2024 : Precipitation

Patterns of Arctic precipitation vary strongly both regionally and seasonally, with very dry (even polar desert conditions) over much of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and central Arctic Ocean contrasting with much wetter conditions over the Atlantic side of the Arctic. Locally, precipitation is strongly boosted by forced uplift of air masses by orography (orographic precipitation). Interannual variability in Arctic precipitation relates to variations in the passage of cyclones and their warm and cold fronts, as well as convective precipitation, which is caused by rising warm, moist air and mostly restricted to land areas in summer when there is strong surface heating but can also occur over the ice-free ocean in some circumstances. Reflecting such variability, the October 2023-September 2024 water year for the Arctic region poleward of 60° N was characterized by large regional anomalies in precipitation, notably in autumn and summer.