On the potential impact of irrigated areas in North America on summer rainfall caused by large-scale systems

The potential impact of the increase in irrigated areas in North America during the past 100 years on summer rainfall associated with medium-to large-scale precipitation systems is evaluated conceptually and by several illustrative numerical model simulations. The model results for the simulated cases suggest a tendency toward some increase in the continental-average rainfall for the present irrigation conditions compared with those of past irrigation. The maximum increase obtained for several studied cases of 6-day duration each was 1.7%. Rainfall increases typically occur in the location of existing rainfall areas. and the main effect of irrigation is to redistribute rainfall in those preexisting precipitation regions.