  Nonsmooth formulations of physical models are common, particularly in climate
modeling. However, in many of these models, there is little justification for
this modeling choice, and no mathematical indication that the resulting
behavior in the nonsmooth system is consistent with behavior that would arise
in a similar smooth system. I explore this question by analyzing the
relationship between a smooth and nonsmooth Hopf bifurcation in one particular
climate example. I show that the nonsmooth bifurcation perturbs to the smooth
bifurcation under small changes in a limiting parameter.
