earth science

Ridiculously Resilient Ridge

Ridiculously Resilient Ridge is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ridiculously Resilient Ridge rather than just read about it. In short: The "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge", sometimes shortened to "Triple R" or "RRR", was a persistent anticyclone that occurred over the far northeastern Pacific Ocean, contributing to the 2011–2017 California drought. The "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge" nickname was originally coined in December 2013 by Daniel Swain on the Weather West Blog, but has since been used widely in popular media as well as in peer-reviewed scie…

Key takeaways

Ridiculously Resilient Ridge belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ridiculously Resilient Ridge to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ridiculously Resilient Ridge from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge", sometimes shortened to "Triple R" or "RRR", was a persistent anticyclone that occurred over the far northeastern Pacific Ocean, contributing to the 2011–2017 California drought. The "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge" nickname was originally coined in December 2013 by Daniel Swain on the Weather West Blog, but has since been used widely in popular media as well as in peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Features The Ridiculously Resilient Ridge was characterized by a broad region of anomalously positive geopotential height on monthly to annual timescales. This persistent high pressure system acted to "block" the prevailing mid-latitude westerlies, shifting the storm track northward and suppressing extratropical cyclone (winter storm) activity along the West Coast of the United States. Such a pattern is similar to—but of greater magnitude and longevity than—atmospheric configurations noted during previous California droughts.

Associations This anomalous atmospheric feature disrupted the North Pacific storm track during the winters of 2012–13, 2013–14, and 2014–15, resulting in extremely dry and warm conditions in California and along much of the West Coast. The Ridge comprised the western half of a well-defined atmospheric ridge-trough sequence associated with an unusually amplified "North American winter dipole" pattern, which brought persistent anomalous cold and precipitation to the eastern half of North America in addition to record-breaking warmth and drought conditions in California. This ridge of high pressure was also associated with a blob of high water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which resulted in substantial warming along the western coast of North America as well as adverse ecological impacts. However, it is generally thought that "The Blob" of warm ocean water was caused by the persistence of the ridge and subsequent reduction in vertical ocean mixing due to storms, rather than the reverse. On the other hand, recent research suggests that unusual oceanic warmth in the western tropical Pacific Ocean may have played a role in triggering and maintaining the Triple R over successive seasons. High amplitude atmospheric ridge patterns similar to the Triple R have occurred more frequently in recent decades and there is evidence that the occurrence of persistent North Pacific geopotential height anomalies and anomalously dry California winters, will increase due to global warming, although uncertainty remains regarding the magnitude of these future changes.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ridiculously Resilient Ridge

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ridiculously Resilient Ridge claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ridiculously Resilient Ridge before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ridiculously Resilient Ridge ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ridiculously Resilient Ridge

In research: Ridiculously Resilient Ridge appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ridiculously Resilient Ridge in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ridiculously Resilient Ridge is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2013–14 North American winter, 2014–15 North American winter, 2015–16 North American winter, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ridiculously Resilient Ridge outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ridiculously Resilient Ridge in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ridiculously Resilient Ridge means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ridiculously Resilient Ridge out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ridiculously Resilient Ridge in simple terms?

Why does Ridiculously Resilient Ridge matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ridiculously Resilient Ridge?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ridiculously Resilient Ridge.