Southwest Climate Update - May 1, 2015

We're introducing a new podcast series that focuses on quick and timely reporting on important climate news and information. We will emphasize stories that relate to the southwest, but we'll also include other climate related news that illustrate the impact of climate on national or global scales.  And Mike, Zack, and Ben will still take a deeper look at southwestern climate issues in the monthly CLIMAS Southwest Climate Podcast. This episode, we're focused on record warm temperatures, drought, and snowpack across the west, along with a few stories that illustrate the downstream impact of these conditions. This podcast is also available as a video podcast   See our blog post detailing the information from the podcast: http://www.climas.arizona.edu/blog/mini-podcastnews-southwest-climate-update-may-1-2015 Image & Story Credits - Podcast & Blog Post 2014 and 2015 Record Temperatures National Climate Data Center (NCDC) - State of the Climate - Overview 2014 Warmest Year on Record Figure: Decadal Averages - Annual & Decadal Global Mean Temperatures - Source: NCDC/NESDIS/NOAA Figure: Statewide Average Temperature Ranks - Jan - Dec 2014 - Source: NCDC Figure: Statewide Average Temperature Ranks - Jan - Mar 2015 - Source: NCDC Figure: Westwide SNOTEL Current Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) % of Normal - Source: NRCS State of the Drought Drought is leading AZ to think about Water Planning Figure: U.S. Drought Monitor Weekly Update - April 21, 2015 - Source: USDM Figure: Northern Sierra Precip - 8-Station Index - Source: CA Dept of Water Resources Figure: Central Arizona Project Systems Map - Source: CAP Figure: Agricultural Use by Crop - Source: Mother Jones Figure: Central Arizona Project Sytems Map - Source: CAP Figure: Lake Mead Elevation - Source: CLIMAS (using Bureau of Reclamation Data) Figure: Tier 1 Shortage - Source: April 10, 2015 UA Water Forum Figure: Tucson Water Use - Source: Tucson Water Bark Beetles, Tree Stress, and Climate Change Bark Beetles Are Decimating Our Forests. That Might Actually Be a Good Thing. (Mother Jones) Figure: Rocky Mountain Region Bark Beetle - Source: U.S. Forest Service Figure: Arizona & New Mexico Bark Beetle Mortality - Source: U.S. Forest Service Figure: Percentage of Trees Seen With Damage - Source: U.S. Forest Service & Karen Minot (Mother Jones)  Record Low Snowpack Across the West  Record low snowpack and drought - California water restrictions (Weather.com) Figure: Snow Water Equivalent - Source: NRCS Figure: California Snowpack - Source: California Department of Water Resources FIgure: California Water Restrictions Press Conference - Source: Weather.com Snowpack, Drought, & Energy Information & Figures: California drought leads to less hydropower, increased natural gas generation - U.S. Energy Information Administration  Climate Change, Temperature & Precipitation Records, and Pollen Information & Figures: Warm temperatures and a wet fall resulted in a very heavy pollen season this year. Source: http://www.earthgauge.net/2015/climate-change-pollen-and-allergy-season

CLIMAS Member(s):  

Ben McMahan

Emily Huddleston