The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center- January 2018

Inside this issue: Message from the interim director........................................1 Weather photo of the quarter.................................................. 1 2017 - year in review..............2 2017 climate in the High Plains............................................3 Update on La Niña..................3 Update on regional climate conditions..................................4 Product Highlight....................4 HPRCC Turns 30........................5 Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................

Support for Drought Response and Community Preparedness: Filling the Gaps between Plans and Action

This chapter examines which levels of government handle various aspects of drought, as well as interactions between levels of government, providing examples from states across the western United States. It also takes a look at aspects of drought that fall outside traditional lines of authority and disciplinary boundaries. As part of a discussion on how states support local drought response, the chapter details and contrasts how California and Colorado track public water supply restrictions, and describes Colorado’s process for incorporating input from river basins across the state into its water plan. Case studies focus on drought planning in the Klamath River and Upper Colorado River basins through the lens of collaborative environmental planning. The chapter concludes that drought planning will be more effective as more states coordinate and align goals and policies at multiple levels of government

Building Adaptive Capacity in Tribal Communities of the Missouri River Basin to Manage Drought and Climate Extremes: A Case Study from the Wind River Indian Reservation

Native American peoples of the Northern and Central Plains have long endured harsh climate conditions, such as floods and droughts, and they possess valuable traditional knowledges that have enhanced their resilience to these extreme events. However, in recent times, limited capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing climate combined with a lack of resources have increased tribes’ vulnerability to climate extremes and their associated impacts. In response, a number of projects have been developed to assist tribes with their self-identified climate- and drought-related needs, particularly in the context of on-reservation decision-making. In this case study, we present an engagement strategy that was piloted for the tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming and replicated for other tribes across the Northern and Central Plains. We found that frequent, face-to-face interactions between tribal and scientific communities builds relationships and trust between these two groups. We also found that climate capacity-building projects that include a diverse team of physical and social scientists, as well as tribal members, provide the greatest benefit to tribes. Finally, we found that these capacity-building projects can help reinforce tribal sovereignty

Enhancing ACIS Maps: Increasing Usability through a GIS Portal

The High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) is one of six NOAA Regional Climate Centers (RCCs) in the United States that aims to provide timely climate data and information to the public for cost-effective decision-making. As part of a three-tiered approach to climate services, the RCCs address needs on the national, regional, state, and local scales for a variety of sectors including agriculture, energy, natural resource management, research, transportation, and water resources. Working together, the RCCs develop and disseminate a wide range of valueadded climate products and services. One of the HPRCC’s most popular products is the Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) Climate Summary Maps, which have been in production since 2003 (Fig. 1; https://hprcc.unl.edu/maps .php?map=ACISClimateMaps). The maps are utilized by a variety of sectors and are often used in print and online publications. Over time, the maps have become a staple for climate and drought monitoring as they are updated on a daily basis using near-real-time temperature and precipitation data. To provide quick and efficient access for users, all maps are pre-generated utilizing the Grid Analysis and Display System (GRADS) and its Cressman interpolation scheme, with static images appearing instantly when requested. The pregeneration process takes about 7 hours, using over 10 million data values, which are aggregated to create 18,576 maps on a daily basis. Each of these maps is created for a predefined list of time periods (last 7 days, last 14 days, last 30 days, etc.) and areas at individual state, regional, and national levels (https://hprcc.unl.edu/products /ACIS_Products.pdf). In a typical week, these maps are accessed over 20,000 times by visitors to the HPRCC website. Due to the volume of users and their changing needs, map offerings have expanded over the years to meet specific user requests. Since the inception of the project, new variables have been added, including the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), based on a two-parameter Gamma distribution (McKee et al. 1993), as well as new regions, such as the Missouri River basin and the Corn Belt. Most recently, all 50 states and U.S. territories were added as individual map options

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center- April 2015

Inside this issue: Message from the director........................................1 Staff spotlight...........................1 Stakeholder engagement activities......................................2 Partnership spotlight.............2 AWDN information.................3 Update on regional climate conditions..................................3 Product highlight....................4 Research highlight..................4 Outreach events......................5 Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................

Support for Drought Response and Community Preparedness: Filling the Gaps between Plans and Action

This chapter examines which levels of government handle various aspects of drought, as well as interactions between levels of government, providing examples from states across the western United States. It also takes a look at aspects of drought that fall outside traditional lines of authority and disciplinary boundaries. As part of a discussion on how states support local drought response, the chapter details and contrasts how California and Colorado track public water supply restrictions, and describes Colorado’s process for incorporating input from river basins across the state into its water plan. Case studies focus on drought planning in the Klamath River and Upper Colorado River basins through the lens of collaborative environmental planning. The chapter concludes that drought planning will be more effective as more states coordinate and align goals and policies at multiple levels of government

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center- January 2019

Inside this issue: Message from the director........................................1 Staff spotlight...........................1 Year in review............................2 Drought THIRA toolkit...........3 Product highlight....................4 Update on regional climate conditions..................................4 Other HPRCC news.................5 Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center- October 2019

Inside this issue: Message from the director........................................1 Staff spotlight...........................1 Workshops focus on climate services in Kansas....................2 Research highlights................3 AMS Annual Meeting.............3 Update on regional climate conditions..................................4 New ACIS Climate Summary Maps available..........................5 Track precipitation with CLIMOD.......................................5 Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................