The below article segment was copied from http://www.wku.edu/news/releases10/april/mesonet.html .  Please follow the link to see full article.

Bowling Green, Ky. - The Kentucky Mesonet has received a Best of Kentucky Technology Award for “Best Application Serving Public Agencies.”

The award was presented Tuesday in Frankfort during the Kentucky Digital Government Summit.

“We are very honored to be recognized as one of the best technological applications in state government,” said Mike Grogan, lead systems architect for the Kentucky Mesonet. “From the start of the Kentucky Mesonet program, our primary goal has always been to build something positive and beneficial for the entire Commonwealth. We feel this award confirms that our efforts for and dedication to the people of Kentucky is on-target.”

In his announcement, Kelly expressed some uncertainties about certain aspects of the USCRN data, which I would like to address below.
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Kelly:Some of the info is only updated (either at the platform or at the NCDCingestsite) once an hour.  So, for example, wecannot seem to find 5 minute wind mean/max, but only hourly.

Also,there do not seem to be 5-minute winds, but only hourly means, and a single peak gust for the whole hour, rather than for each 5-minute period, the way one would usually do this.  Also, there is scalar speed but no direction (we've never been sure why, because thisis sosimple to add), so the wind roses all come up blank. (Wind, and some of the other stuff, is not a primary measurement ... these are intended as diagnostics of temp and precip calues.)

USCRN:  Wind data have not been transmitted or archived at the 5-min interval during the history of the program.  In addition, wind direction measurements are not taken at USCRN sites. The hourly wind speed observations are not taken at 10 m heights like is typical, but at the height of the air intake to the aspirated platinum resistance thermometers,typically about 1.5 m above the ground.  These data are most useful for understanding wind influences on temperature and precipitation measurements, as Kelly mentioned parenthetically, and they are not really comparable to wind data from other networks.  In addition, infrared surface temperature and global solar radiation are also only available as hourly means or statistics.  In the future, some of these variables may be sampled at the 5-minute rate, but a decision has not been taken on this issue currently.

With regards to data updates, the USCRN station platforms transmit data hourly in three hour blocks of time (redundancy in case of a rare dropped transmission), so true latency depends on the time not only in processing the transmissions, but how far from the beginning of the hour the transmission takes place.  USCRN and USHCN-M are essentially near-real-time platforms, but not real time.
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Kelly:The nomenclature can be tricky and we are trying to come up with asyntax thatapplies to all types of platforms and data recording methodologies.  This is not easy.  Forinstance, we may wish to obtain the longterm statistics (max, min, mean) of the maximum minimum 5-minute mean(oversome defined interval), or some such thing.

The basic temperature is called Mean Temperature (because it is a 5-minute mean).  We cannot seem to find the max and min temperature within that basic 5-minute reporting interval (which is usually what we call Max Temp and Min Temp). So, what is called Max and Min temp are actually *hourly* max and min of the 12 5-minute mean temps.

USCRN: At the individual platinum resistance thermometer(PRT) level, only the 5-minute mean temperatures are retained and transmitted to NCDC.  There is no maximum or minimum for each 5-minute period.  However, a maximum or minimum temperature for the hour is calculated not from the125-minute means, but from a 5-minute window that is moved in 10-sec steps.  Therefore, the maximum and minimum temperatures for each PRT and hour are based on 360 possible 5-minute intervals during the hour. Finally, the official hourly temperature values for a station are derived by considering observations from all three PRTs in a complicated algorithm that also looks at fan speeds, pair-wise comparisons, and other system indicators, choosing the median of the available measurements.
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Kelly:One other thing, for precip, we pull the full precision, and can bin incrementally or in accumulated format, and don't have to worry about 5-minute round off if we don't feel like it.

USCRN:  Fullprecision being pulled from USCRN is tenths of millimeters. In the WRCC product, many decimal places are preserved, related to the conversion from metric to English units.
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Kelly:There are many ways to create an hour from 5-minute data, many ways of creating a day from sub-daily or sub-hourly data, and many ways of creating a month or a year, as well. Our goal is to eventually make this as explicit as possible, and also leave all these decisions to user control.

USCRN:  It is useful for users to have flexibility in calculating accumulated valuesfrom5-minute data.  However, many users simply need an hourly, daily, or monthly value that is provided without need for considering calculation rules.  We will be working with the WRCC to provide the option for users to select the hourly, daily, and monthly values for certain variables as they are directly calculated by USCRN.  For the moment,users may find some small differences between USCRN hourly, daily, and monthly observations and the ones calculated directly by the sub-hourly tool at WRCC.
----------------

We appreciate this effort to move USCRN and USHCN-M data to the user community, including the work done at the WRCC, and hourly USCRN products now available at the MRCC.  We will work to coordinate activities so as to ensure data are comparable through these various portals, and that the user may choose the interface that is most convenient for a given purpose.

Mike Palecki, USCRN

The Annual Meeting of the AASC is held each summer.  The 35th Annual Meeting of the American Association of State Climatologists will be held 12-15 July 2010, at the Embassy Suites,4130 Lake Tahoe Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe, California 96150.

For more information visit
http://www.stateclimate.org/meetings/

NOAA launches www.climate.gov as portal for climate science and services

full article can be found at
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100208_climate.html

February 8, 2010

"Individuals and decision-makers across widely diverse sectors –from agriculture to energy to transportation – increasingly are asking NOAA for information about climate change in order to make the best choices for their families, communities and businesses. To meet the rising tide of these requests, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced the intent to create a NOAA Climate Service line office dedicated to bringing together the agency’s strong climate science and service delivery capabilities."

NOAA Launches Landmark Climate.gov Portal

"NOAA is also unveiling today a new Web site – http://www.climate.gov– that serves as a single point-of-entry for NOAA’s extensive climate information, data, products and services. Known as the NOAA Climate Portal, the site addresses the needs of five broadly-defined user groups: decision makers and policy leaders, scientists and applications-oriented data users, educators, business users and the public."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOB SKIPPER, DIRECTOR
MAY 22, 2009 MEDIA RELATIONS
MCCONNELL TO OFFICIALLY LAUNCH MESONET NETWORK

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell will officially launch the Kentucky Mesonet network during a Tuesday ceremony in Grayson County.
Sen. McConnell, R-Ky., will join Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell, Grayson County School Superintendent Barry Anderson, John Gordon of the National Weather Service and Mesonet Director Stuart Foster at 9:30 a.m. (CT) at the Grayson County Mesonet site. The site is adjacent to Lawler Elementary School and Grayson County High School off of U.S. 62 in Leitchfield.

The Kentucky Mesonet is a statewide weather and climate monitoring network collecting real-time weather and climate data on temperature, precipitation, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed and direction. Data is packaged into observations every five minutes and transmitted to the Kentucky Climate Center at WKU every 15 minutes, 24 hours per day, throughout the year and is available online at www.kymesonet.org.

Currently there are 25 Mesonet sites operational and plans call for construction of 100 stations to be located throughout the Commonwealth. The environmental monitoring network supports a variety of products to serve needs across Kentucky, including agriculture, education, energy, emergency management, engineering and construction, recreation, transportation, water supply management and weather forecasting.

Initial funding for the project was secured by Sen. McConnell through a series of federal appropriations totaling $2.9 million for the Kentucky Climate Center, part of WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program in the Ogden College of Science and Engineering.

The Mesonet’s first station at the WKU farm in Warren County became operational in May 2007.  The Mesonet has partnered with universities, school districts,

Office of Media Relations, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11012, Bowling Green, KY 42101(270) 745-4295 Fax: (270) 745-5387 E-mail: WKUNews@wku.edu Internet: www.wku.edu
businesses, farmers and others for site locations. The National Weather Service and media outlets are utilizing the Mesonet data for weather forecasts and reports.

Directions to the Grayson County Mesonet site:
From Ky. 259 south of Leitchfield, take U.S. 62 west approximately two miles. Continue past the entrance to Lawler Elementary School and turn on the next left. The Mesonet site will be on the right.
- WKU - a leading American university with international reach -

More WKU news is available at http://www.wku.edu/news/index.html and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/.
RAS
Mesonet
Mcconnelladv.doc

Committee on Science and Technology
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Energy & Environment :: May 5, 2009

Hearing: Expanding Climate Services at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
Developing the National Climate Service [Scheduled]

Information about the National Climate Services testimony, to be given 10am-12pm May 5th can be found here

The 34th Annual Meeting of the American Association of State Climatologists will be held July 7-10, 2009 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is the AASC's first trip to the Wolverine State.

The meeting will be held at the historic Amway Grand Hotel, on the shore of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids.  Please follow the above links for Details and Registration.

PDF version available for printing.

Statewide Summary for January 2009

As part of the monthly newsletter, the SCO provides a basic summaryof monthly conditions for all locations that have an automatedreporting station. A daily version of this product is available onlineat:
http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/cronos/review

After a mild start, January 2009 ended with a coldsnap that culminated in an historic snow and ice storm that left more than700,000 customers without electricity and caused numerous school closings. Themore than two-week long cold snap was more than able to offset the initialwarming in January as temperature amonalies for the month ranged from -0.6 in Paducah tonearly -4.0 in the Bluegrass region and parts of eastern Kentucky. Precipitationfor the state was above average for the second straight month, which has allbut eliminated drought concerns. Precipitation amountsranged from 110% of normal in western Kentucky to more than 160% in thepreviously drought-stricken mountains of eastern Kentucky. Most of theprecipitation for the month fell in the historic snow and ice storm thatbattered trees and power lines from January 26-28^th. Precipitationbegan late the night of the 26^th as ice, sleet, and freezing rain inthe western half of the state before spreading eastward on the morning of the27^th. Ice accumulations of 0.50 inch to 1 inch were common in many locationsduring the first wave of precipitation although several inches of snow fellalong the Ohio River in northern Kentucky. As warmer air surged northward laterin the day on the 27^th, the rain/ice/snow lines also pushednorthward, which led to rain across south-central Kentucky and freezing rain elsewhere. Total ice accumulations greater than 1? were common along a line from Paducah to Lexington, which is where the majority of damage to trees and power lines occurred. Precipitation amounts from the storm topped five inchesin parts of south-central Kentucky where it was warm enough to be mostly rain.As the storm departed on the 28^th, a quick 1-4? of snow was common, most notably in Louisville. Temperatures dipped below freezing in the days after the ice storm which hindered relief efforts. Aside from the ice storm, the most notable event of the month was the arctic outbreak that dropped nighttime temperatures below zero in many locations on the 15-16^th.The two-day arctic outbreak was the coldest two-day cold snap since January2003 and featured the first sub-zero reading in Jackson in 10 years. The arctic outbreak marked the end of the mild start to the month which saw temperatures surpass 60 degrees for a couple of days shortly after the New Year.

• January 3-5 storm with winds topping 100 mph over some mountain peaks
• January 21-25 rainfall exceeds July 2006 to June 2007 totals for some sites in Southern CA
• January 24 tornado in Ventura County
• April Sacramento Valley Freeze damages some crops
• April 100 0F readings in SE desert region locations
• May 23rd storm set new low pressure record for Sacramento for May
• June dry convective event in Northern CA sets off more than 1,000 fires from approximately 8,000 lightening strikes in 19 hours
• July heat wave
• July flash flood for southern Sierra
• October freezing temperatures in many parts of the state
• October Santa Ana winds for Southern CA
• November Santa Ana winds for Southern CA fuel wildfires
• November Central Valley fog
• December snow for southern CA

December warms after a cold fall season.?After a cold beginning to the fall season, where temperatures from late October through November averaged around 5 degrees below normal, a warm pattern set in for the month of December. Average temperatures ranged from 1 to 2 degrees above normal in central and south Florida to 3-4 degrees above normal over north Florida. The coldest temperatures of the month occurred after a fairly vigorous cold front passage on December 2nd and 3rd, with freezing temperatures reported as far south as Ocala on the morning of the 2nd. The second half of December was quite warm for the entire state with only one notable cold front passage on or around December 22. With the exception of this date, almost all other days in the second half of December have seen daily temperatures warmer than normal, up to 10 to 12 degrees warmer in most cases. A record low temperature for the date was set at Sarasota-Bradenton with a recording of 39 degrees on the morning of December 3. Numerous record high temperatures were set or tied across north Florida between December 19th and 25th.

December generally drier than normal.?Nearly all locations in Florida recorded below normal rainfall during the month of December. Departures from normal ranged from 1 to 3 inches for the month. The state experienced one major rain event on December 10th and 11th from a low pressure system that developed in the northern Gulf of Mexico and moved slowly inland across the Panhandle. Precipitation totals from this system were heaviest at Okaloosa County where totals from 4 to 6 inches were reported and in Jackson and Holmes counties, where totals reached 6 to 8 inches. The remainder of the state generally saw totals between half and inch to one inch. One daily record for rainfall was set at Fort Myers with 1.83 inches accumulating on December 11.

Figure 1:Radar-derived rainfall totals for the month of December (inches)

Other weather and climate impacts.?Much of December was free from any severe or high impact weather events, with a few minor exceptions. The heavy rain event mentioned above did result is some minor flooding of small rivers and streams in areas around Tallahassee and the western Panhandle. The same system was also responsible for scattered reports of wind damage across north Florida and Pinellas County. Otherwise, the freezing temperatures seen across north Florida on December 2nd and 3rd were not overly damaging and well within the range of expected weather for this time of year.

In a broader scope, it appears that the tropical Pacific Ocean has fallen back into the La Nina phase (colder than normal waters along the equator in the eastern and central Pacific). La Nina is known to bring warm and dry winters to Florida and the Southeast and is likely responsible for the warming (and drier) trend seen in the second half of the month.

Impacts on agriculture.?The unseasonably warm second half of December has slowed chill accumulations over much of the area. Chill accumulation over the winter is important to flowering fruit crops such as blueberries, peaches, and strawberries and promotes proper fruit setting. Chill accumulation was ahead of normal during the colder period of late October through the first week of December, but has slowed considerably during the recent warm spell. The warmer temperatures have enhanced development of other crops, namely winter vegetables and winter wheat. Winter forages for cattle were doing well with the warm temperatures in areas of north Florida that have received adequate rain. Dry and warm conditions in the citrus belt have producers irrigating more.

Prepared by David F. Zierden and Melissa Griffin

Florida Climate Center

The Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

Most of North Carolina experienced a relatively warm and wet December to close out 2008. Mean temperatures across the state were generally2.5-4.5 F above normal, while precipitation totals for the month were generally between 90% and 130% of normal. The warmest region was the Southern Coastal Plain, where temperatures were nearly 4.5 F above normal for the month. This regional was also the driest in NC during December, with only 89% of normal precipitation (-0.38 inches from normal). The smallest departures in temperature were observed in the Southern Piedmont, where temperatures were only 2.5 F above normal on average. The wettest region was the Southern Mountains, where most locations experienced several days with heavy precipitation and the regional average precipitation total was greater than 130% of normal. Fortunately, this is the region that had been experiencing the most severe drought conditions in NC, so the rainfall is a welcome promise for recharge to streams, reservoirs, and groundwater supplies.

December rainfall brought drought relief to the entire region, but the most benefits have been observed in western NC, where exceptional D4 drought conditions improved to D2 by the end of the month. Drought impacts still experienced in western part of the state are almost exclusively limited to long-term water supplies.

Ever Wondered About Weather for MLK Day?

It often gets asked "what's the historical weather for the next holiday? No, it's not just asked by those looking to get in a round of golf on their day off. For many holidays, developing a climatology of averages and extremes is fairly easy since for lots of holidays, the event falls on the same date every year. But what about Thanksgiving? Easter? And Martin Luther King Day? These holidays (and several others) fall on different dates each year. So to provide historical summaries for all holidays, the SCO has a new Holiday Climatology page for all historical Cooperative Observers in NC. NWS Cooperative Observers have the best long-term record of temperature and precipitation, and there is probably one in your county! So enjoy, and be ready when someone asks about the record temperature observed on Columbus Day!

http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/holiday_climatology.php

Statewide Station Summary for December 2008

As part of the monthly newsletter, the SCO provides a basic summary of monthly conditions for all locations that have an automated reporting station. A daily version of this product is available online at:
http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/cronos/review

November 2008 was yet another drier than normal month across the state of Kentucky. This marks the 4th consecutive month that most of Kentucky has been dry, although some parts of northern Kentucky have had below normal rainfall since the spring. Extreme drought conditions continued over eastern Kentucky where November precipitation was 70% of normal. Eastern Kentucky communities such as Jackson and London are short roughly a foot of rain for the year-to-date which makes 2008 potentially one of the driest years on record for this region. Drought conditions ease somewhat towards western Kentucky but many areas remain in moderate to severe drought. Precipitation totals for western Kentucky in November ranged from around 40% in Bowling Green to nearly 60% in Paducah. No days of thunder or severe weather were recorded. Weather for the month was split into four distinct patterns, although the overall trend for the month was cooler than normal. A late-summer pattern brought warm temperatures that topped 75 degrees in many places duringthe first seven days of the month. A strong cold front on the 7-8th brought light rain statewide and sharply cooler temperatures. An even stronger cold front on the 15-16th ushered in the most frigid November coldsnap since 2000. Mean temperatures across the state averaged around 15 degrees below normal for the seven-day period from November 16th-22nd. This arctic air mass also brought the first snow showers of the season to many places over several days starting on the 16th. Accumulating snowfall was recorded over the Bluegrass region on the 20th and on several days over the higher elevations of eastern Kentucky. Record low temperatures were recorded at some locations in eastern Kentucky on the mornings of the 19th and 22nd when temperatures fell into the low teens. No record low maximums were recorded but the two-day period from November 21st-22nd was unusually cold even for mid-January as high temperatures remained just above the freezing mark in many places. The cold moderated over the Thanksgiving weekend although temperatures during the last week of the month still averaged a few degrees below normal. For the month, temperatures averaged anywhere from two degrees below normal in western Kentucky to four degrees below normal in eastern Kentucky. Despite the cold November, average temperatures for the September-November autumn period were right around normal.

Representatives from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City came together at the National Weather Center this morning to unveil the Oklahoma City Micronet (OKCNET) - a 40-station network of real-time weather observing stations consisting of four Oklahoma Mesonet stations and 36 miniature weather stations mounted on traffic signals across Oklahoma City. The multipurpose network provides critical weather information for the daily operations of Oklahoma City, supports new scientific research focused on urban meteorology, and serves as a resource for the citizens of central Oklahoma.

OKCNET was developed during a 5-year collaboration between the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS), the Oklahoma Mesonet, the University of Oklahoma (OU), and the City of Oklahoma City. The unveiling of the 40-station Oklahoma City Micronet represents a significant milestone in the history of weather data collection in metropolitan areas and is the first of its kind in the world in terms of data collection, quality, and availability to a variety of customers.

"The Micronet?s technology provides remarkable information that will benefit our residents in terms of public safety," said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. "It will provide City crews with real time, detailed information about weather conditions Citywide so we can better anticipate everything from the location of freezing roads and flash flooding to the direction a fire might spread. In this type of partnership everyone wins."

"The University of Oklahoma is proud to have supported the development, deployment, and operation of the Oklahoma City Micronet," said Dr. Paul G. Risser, Chair of the University of Oklahoma Research Cabinet. "We see the state of the art atmospheric monitoring network in Oklahoma City not only as a valuable resource to the academic and research activities at the National Weather Center, but also as a tool that will pioneer new insights into urban meteorology and climate that will benefit anyone living in urban environments around the globe."

To learn more about OKCNET and view current weather data, visit the website at http://okc.mesonet.org.

While far northern Illinois saw freezing temperatures earlyin the month, the official close to the 2008 growing season at most locationsoccurred on October 28. Cold Canadian air pushed across the Midwest, producinglows that morning in the mid to upper 20s acrossIllinois. For most locations this was about 1 to 2 weeks behind the normaldates of the first fall frost (32 degrees). Normal dates ranges from October 7in northern Illinois, October 14 in central Illinois, and October 21 insouthern Illinois.  

For October, the statewide precipitation was 2.56 inches,0.35 inches below normal. The statewide average temperature was 54.2 degrees,only 0.4 degrees below normal. Overall, moderate weather conditions were quitefavorable for farmers harvesting corn and soybeans.

Table 1: List of the 10 years in which the precipitation total was the greatest in Missouri from January to June.

By using the analog years found in the table above, past September hurricane tracks were plotted using a program provided by NOAA's Coastal Services Center.
This program can be found at: http://maps.csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/viewer.html.

(To view the actual graphics, please go to:http://climate.met.psu.edu/newsletter/.  Once logged in, click on the 'July 2, 2008' newsletter).

After plotting the September hurricane tracks that occurred during the 10 analog years, the graph showed that only two hurricanes traveled up through the Gulf of Mexico.  The other hurricanes made landfall along the Eastern seaboard. 

 The ten years in which Missouri experienced their driest first 6 month period was used in order to compare the hurricane track pattern. 

Table 2: List of the 10 years in which the precipitation total was the least in Missouri from January to June.

When plotting the September hurricane tracks that occurred during the 10 driest analog years, the graph showed that roughly half of the hurricanes that made landfall traveled up through the Gulf of Mexico.  In order to confirm this pattern, an additional plot was made using randomly selected years.  This plot also showed that about 40% of all the hurricanes that made landfall traveled through the Gulf. 

Conclusions: By comparing the plots, it is evident that more hurricanes are concentrated in the Central Atlantic Ocean when the precipitation total was the greatest in Missouri from the January to June period, while during the driest first 6 month period, more hurricanes made landfall on the U.S.coast through the Gulf of Mexico.  Interestingly, when the years were picked through random selection, the hurricanes were more concentrated in the Central Atlantic Ocean when compared to the hurricane tracks during the driest period.  However, about 40% of the hurricanes did make landfall by traveling through the Gulf of Mexico. 

Statewide June precipitation was 5.8 inches, 1.7 inches above average, and the 14^th wettest June on record. Combined with above-average precipitation since the start of 2008, the January-June total was 27.7 inches, 8.3 inches above average.

In recent times, only 1998 started out the year with comparable precipitation with 27.2 inches.

The highest monthly rainfall totals in June occurred near Lawrenceville with eight locations in that area reporting monthly amounts in excess of 10 inches, including 15.3 inches at Hutsonville. Heavy rains produced extensive flooding along the Wabash and Embarrass Rivers. Other areas in central Illinois and along the Illinois/Wisconsin border reported monthly rainfall totals of between 6 and 9 inches. Only southern Illinois south of Interstate 64 received below-average rainfall for the month.

Meanwhile, June statewide temperatures averaged 73 degrees, 1 degree above average.

Although the overall temperature was slightly above average, much of central and northern Illinois had not seen hot weather by the end of June. For example, temperatures in Chicago reached 90 degrees only once this year compared to an average of five times through the end of June in that location. Rockford temperatures never reached 90 degrees compared to four times through the end of June  on average; Springfield temperatures hit the mark only twice compared to the average of eight times; and Champaign temperatures never reached 90 degrees, compared to an average of seven times.

The National Weather Service forecast for July is for an increased chance of above-average precipitation and below-average temperatures.

"Several people have expressed to me a concern that a sudden shift to hot and dry weather after our cool, wet start to the growing season would have a serious impact on corn and soybeans yields. The forecast right now suggests that this threat is pretty small," concludes Angel.

The Journal of Service Climatology publishes peer-reviewed research articles in applied and service climatology, including but not limited to agricultural and forestry climatology, bioclimatology, climate data quality and instrumentation, environmental climatology, hydroclimatology, human dimensions of climate risk and socioeconomic impact assessments, and climate services administration.The Journal also publishes review articles on the use of climate information indecision making, climate service tools (web-based or stand alone programs), data sets with detailed meta-data, climate education materials (including stand alone technical presentations),notes,comments to the editor, and invited articles.

The Journal of Service Climatology inaugurated its launch with three invited articles, by Stan Changnon (father of the Regional Climate Center concept), Ken Hubbard (High Plains Regional Climate Center) and a NOAA team led by Bob Leffler.

For more details about the Journal, please visit http://www.journalofserviceclimatology.org

DRI Data Shows Driest Spring on Record for California

Western Regional Climate Center records date back 114 years

RENO - Responding to data provided by the California Department of Water Resources and the Desert Research Institute, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today proclaimed drought and ordered immediate action to address dry conditions.

Data from the Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC) at DRI and California Department of Water Resources (DWR) indicate that the climatological spring season, March through May, has been the driest in 114 years of record in the state of California. Preliminary data from the California Climate Tracker (CCT, http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/monitor/cal-mon/index.html)shows that the total California statewide precipitation for spring 2008 was 1.21 inches, or 22 percent of the 1895-2007 average. In addition, DWR's 8-station index experienced its driest climatological spring in their 88 year record, with just 3.4 inches of precipitation for the months of March, April and May.

"At DRI, the Western Regional Climate Center has developed products to monitor climate in California, and in this case, the California Climate Tracker," said Laura Edwards, DRI Assistant Research Climatologist. "The WRCC serves as the archive for climate data in the Western United States."

The CCT at WRCC is updated monthly with the National Weather Service's Cooperative Observer Network (COOP) data. The current preliminary data will be quality checked, and aggregated with late reporting data and Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) data from Oregon State University, to create the final product. The record is expected to hold when all data is finalized.

DWR's northern Sierra 8-station index has 34.8 inches for the water year so far, since October 1, 2007. This is 73 percent of normal for the index for this time of year, just slightly less than the 75 percent of normal that was recorded on this date last year. The 8-station index represents precipitation conditions for Northern California. Individually, the current 2008 water year ranks as the 22^nd driest year in the 88 year period of record. Combined with 2007, the two-year total ranks as ninth driest.

Preliminary COOP data for individual stations have also established new records. For example, downtown Sacramento, whose record dates back to 1849, reported just 0.17 inches for the three month period, 0.38 inches less than the previous record set in 1934. San Francisco's total precipitation for March through May of this year was 0.47 inches, which is the driest spring in 159 years of record keeping. In southern California, Bakersfield tied its spring record with 0.08 inches, which last occurred in 1992. All 0.08 inches this spring fell in the month of May.

The winter of 2007-08 has been characterized as a La Nina season by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and may have been the strongest in 20 years. A climatological analysis shows that historically, springs following La Nina winters are typically 13 percent drier than average for California. Eleven of the 19 La Nina years since 1895 reported 80 percent or less of average spring precipitation across the state.

The 2008 AASC Annual Meeting will be held from Monday evening, July 7th until midday Thursday, July 10,th 2008, at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington, Vermont (more info). A block of rooms have been reserved for the AASC and are available until June 5th.

Quick links: Registration and Payment Options; Tentative Agenda

This year's meeting features the now-traditional dinner cruise . The Vermont version will take place aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen III (more info) on Wednesday, July 9th.

About Burlington:
Burlington is located on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. The moderating influence of the Lake is particularly noticeable in the summer when hordes of Vermonters and visitors alike flock to the beaches along the lake, or take a stroll or bike ride along the several miles of picturesque Waterfront.

There is much to do in downtown Burlington and its environs, from the world famous Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop to the Vermont Teddy Bear Company just 10 minutes south of the city. Parking in public garages is free for the first two hours and only 75 cents per half hour thereafter. Burlington is centrally located just 90 miles south of Montreal, Quebec and about 3 hours away from Boston, MA.

Almost every major airline serves the Burlington International Airport,located just 5 minutes away from the meeting hotel. These include Continental, United, US Airways, Delta, Jet Blue, Northwest. Air Tran is scheduled to begin flights by mid-summer.

Registration & Reservations:
This year, meeting registration and lodging reservations are available online.You can now pay your AASC meeting and membership fees by credit card through a convenient PayPal shopping cart. You can also pay by check or PO, or at the annual meeting using a credit card, BUT you must register by June 5th so we can order meals and refreshments.

More Notes:
The draft schedule of the annual meeting is posted here.

Please indicate on your registration whether you would like to present a poster (during Monday evening's reception) or a state report or a partner's report.

Looking forward to seeing you this summer!

Sincerely,

Reminiscent of the 1998-1999 winter, copious amounts of snow have fallen across the Cascades this winter due in part to the moderate/strong La Ni?a in the equatorial Pacific. State transportation crews have been busy working to keep the mountain passes open, which have been closed numerous times due to avalanches and traffic problems. As of February 1, snowpack across much of the state is greater than 140% of normal. The biggest departures from average are in the central Cascades, particularly Stampede Pass, Snoqualmie Pass, and Stevens Pass, which have not had this much snow on the ground since 1974. Further, White Pass has a record February 1 snow depth of 110?, surpassing the previous record of 88?, and is also tied for the 3rd highest snowdepth ever at White Pass.

Further east, many areas have also received impressive snowfall amounts that have not been observed in over a decade. In Spokane, over 62" of snow has fallen from November through January, more than double the average of 28.5?, and is the 7th snowiest all-time for the November ? January period.The majority of the snow fell in January, with over a 1/3 of the month?s 40? total falling on the 26th and 27th as a cold front moving south from the Gulf of Alaska collided with a slow-moving moist stationary front from the south. How does this winter compare historically to an entire winter season in Spokane? Well as of February 1, if no more snow were to fall, this winter would be ranked the 20th snowiest winter dating back to 1881.

• February 1 Mountain Snowdepth Plots
• Eastern Washington Snowfall Plots
• NWS Spokane Historical Context of the 2007-08 Winter

The Dissertation Medal in Applied Climatology for 2008

Awarded By The

American Association of State Climatologists

Application Information

Purpose

The American Association of State Climatologists (AASC) is pleased to announce its third annual Dissertation Medal in Applied Climatology for 2008 - to be awarded to a recent recipient of the Ph.D. degree in North America or U.S. Territories whose research is considered significant to applied climatology.

Eligibility

To be considered for the AASC medal, a nominee's Ph.D. must have been awarded within three calendar years prior to the award submission date (April 15, 2008).

Who Can Apply

Any recent Ph. D. graduate who has a galley-proof manuscript or a published journal article derived from dissertation work accomplished while a student in North America or one of the U.S. Territories. Dissertations per se are not eligible for consideration.

Nominations

Nominations are solicited from graduates (or their sponsors) of universities in North America and the U.S. Territories. The nominator (e.g., State Climatologist, Regional Climatologist, Department Chair, or professional colleague) should submit an original letter of nomination. This letter should discuss the extent of independence exhibited by the nominee in the choice and execution of the dissertation research.

Four reprints of the dissertation research (as published in a refereed journal or in galley-proof format) must accompany the nomination.  Please submit only one article.

Nominations received for the current year's competition remain under consideration for two additional calendar years following the initial year of eligibility.

Due Date

Nomination letters and the required reprints must be received in the offices of the AASC President on or before 15 April 2008.

A Dissertation Medal Committee will be appointed by the Executive Committee of the AASC to select the award recipient. If, in the opinion of the Committee,none of the nominees is sufficiently outstanding, the medal will not be given for that year. The award recipient along with other nominees will be notified by May 30, 2008for presentation of the dissertation medal on July 8, 2008 at the Annual Meeting of the AASC in Burlington, Vermont.

The Award

The presentation will bestow a dissertation medal and a cash award of $500 to the winning nominee. The award also includes paid attendance at the Annual Meeting of the AASC that includes out-of-pocket travel expenses up to $1000 and the waiving of all registration fees.

Corresponding Address

-         Paul Knight, President

-         American Association of State Climatologists

-         Pennsylvania State Climate Office

-         503 Walker Building

-         University Park, PA  16802

Evaluation Criteria

Nominations and manuscripts submitted for the AASC Dissertation Medal will be evaluated based on the following scale (0 to 100 points):

- Clarity of the Manuscript (0-20 points)

- Organization/Figure Quality (0-20 points)

- Applicability to Climatology (0-10 points)

- Creativity (0-20 points)

- Scientific Merit (0-30 points)

• click on: "New:  Preliminary Monthly Severe Weather Database Summary" towards the bottom of the page.
• The initial display consists of  "postage stamps" for the 2006 and 2007 Monthly Summaries. Click on either graph (monthly distribution of the total storms) or the map (spatial distribution of the storm total).
• Clicking on a year (e.g., 2007) will give a detailed page for that year.  There are two tables below the graph. The one on the right is the statewide storm distribution since Jan 1, 2007. The table on the left gives data by month. The tabs above the map allow sorting by type of report.
• Clicking on a month (e.g., Oct 2007) gives a detailed map and graph for October 2007. The table on the right has total tornado, hail and wind storm reports for your state in October. The table on the left is daily distribution of US storm reports in October. Click on a date in the table (e.g., 10/22/2007) to retrieve the main daily storm report page for that day.

Remember that this is a listing of real-time reports received at the SPC. Storms that are reported after a few days of their occurrence will not appear on the daily storm reports. Because of this there may be differences in the number of events listed on this page and the sum in the SPC Monthly Tornado Statistics which is updated to reflect delayed reports.

It should be emphasized that this is not "official" data. The official reports are contained in the NCDC Storm Data publication which is prepared after local NWS offices have evaluated the validity of the reports and has culled out duplicate reports. Typically there is a several month lag between the occurrence of an event and when the severe weather report is made official.

An Official Statement of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey

Overwhelming observational evidence indicates that the earth is warming, and that the cause of that warming is mostly anthropogenic (caused by humans) in nature. Further, the vast majority of scientists that study climate change believe that warming will continue for the foreseeable future.

Of course, climate change has become a highly contentious topic in public discourse, with the waters being muddied by extreme viewpoints and concerns. So where does the truth lie, and what are the implications for Oklahoma? The Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS) has been mandated by the Oklahoma legislature to provide climate information and expertise which could be of value to the public, as well as to state policy- and decision-makers. In that regard, OCS has conducted a review of current assessments of climate change research in order to craft a definitive statement on global climate change and the implications for Oklahoma, detrimental and beneficial alike.

The climate change statement may be downloaded from the Oklahoma Climatological Survey's website at this address:

http://climate.ok.gov/newsmedia/climate_statement.pdf.

Tropical storms generally deteriorate rapidly after landfall (which Erin did). However, shortly after 5 pm on the 18^th,the remnants of Erin,which had been downgraded to a tropical depression upon landfall, showed signs of new life. Two brief tornadoes were reported in western Oklahoma, near Cordell. The storm intensified,delivering torrential rainfall to southwestern Oklahoma and slowly spreading eastward and northward across the state. During the overnight hours of 18-19 August 2007, the remnant circulation of Erin strengthened to exceed tropical storm criteria over western Oklahoma. Radar imagery clearly shows the re-development of an eye and eyewall structure and banding characteristic of a tropical cyclone over water.

http://www.ocs.ou.edu/newsmedia/erin_eye.jpg

From 1:15 am on the 19th the Mesonet (http://www.mesonet.org)site at Watonga, near the center of the circulation, reported tropical storm strength winds nearly three hours.During this time, sustained wind speeds over 40 miles per hour were reported.Had that occurred over open water, Erin would have been upgraded to a tropical storm. Wind gusts over 70 miles per hour were recorded at the Watonga and Fort Cobb Mesonet sites, and the Watonga Airport topped the list with an 82mph gust. Pressure and wind speed measurements from the Oklahoma Mesonet indicate Erin's intensification over Oklahoma marked its most intense duration of its life cycle, even exceeding the pressure and wind observations from its offshore organization.

Erin continued to wrap up during the overnight hours, eventually forming anew eye,centered just north of El Reno at about 5 am. The circulation persisted for several hours, driving bands of moisture counter-clockwise around the eye.The slow-moving system dropped more than five inches of rainfall along its path, with over an inch common in a larger area from Erin's outer 'bands'. Of the Mesonet sites, Fort Cobb picked up the highest total - 9.24 inches.However, a CoCoRaHS (http://www.cocorahs.org)observerreported 11.00 inches northwest of Geary, noting "the amount was MORE than 11 inches. When I went out to check the gauge this morning, it was full, had clearly overflowed during the night, and I spilled some of the contents getting the gauge off the post. The majority of the rain occurred between 11 pm and 4 am."

The rainfall added by Erin was yet another blow to an already water-logged state, especially for central Oklahoma. Rainfall totals averaged over the central Oklahoma region stands at 43.14" since the beginning of the year,19.09" above normal - easily the wettest on record for the area.The previous mark was set in 1957 with a January 1-August 20 total of36.90". Statewide, the year thus far is the 4^th wettest on record with 31.96", 8.42" above normal.

The summer season through August 20 is the wettest on record statewide with a total of 15.46", 6.71" above normal. Central Oklahomais 14.45" above normal for the June 1-August 20 period with 23.23" of rainfall.

• Agricultural Outlook

• Hurricane forecasts
• Hurricane return frequencies

• Climate Risk Tool

February 2007 was one of the fifteen coldest on record in PA and surprisingly, it was also rather dry. When compared to all previous February's for chill and dryness - the spring (March-April-May) that followed was definitely biased toward cooler than normal and much drier than average (See Division 1 - NE and 9 - SW):

Division 1:

Division9:

 Table 1 - CIMIS Station Data

Table 2 - NWS Co-Op Stations

Research: Find the average temperature max and average temperature min for both Philadelphia, PA and Pittsburgh, PA. Then add 10 degrees and subtract degrees respectively.Philadelphia(PHL) average Tmax = 86F + 10 = 96F. PHL average Tmin 25F -10 = 15F. Pittsburgh(PIT) average Tmax = 83F + 10 = 93F.PIT average Tmin 19F -10 = 9F. Search through the POR to find anomalies that either are ≥ the new Tmax or are ≤ the new Tmin.

Results for Philadelphia:
Total number of anomalies = 837 over the POR
Number of anomalies ≥ the new Tmax(96F) = 195
Number of anomalies ≤ the new Tmin(15F) = 642

Top 3 highest temperatures:

Top 3 lowest temperatures:

Most Total Anomalies in one decade:
1960-1969 - 192

Most Tmax Anomalies in one decade:
1990-1999 - 61

Most Tmin Anomalies in one decade:
1960-1969 - 172

Most Total Anomalies in one year:
1977 - 36
1963 - 36
1988 - 33

 Most Tmax Anomalies in one year:
1988 - 15
1993,1953 - 13
1991 - 12

 Most Tmin Anomalies in one year:
1977 - 33
1963 - 30
1978 - 24

 Anomaly breakdown over POR: