Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

The Land of Droughts to Flooding RainsWeather whiplash is the abrupt and intense change from one extreme weather condition to another, such as dramatic temperature swings from hot to cold, heavy snowfall to rapid melt, and, as is common in Texas, a period of prolonged drought followed by flooding. In recent years, weather whiplash events have been observed across the United States. Examples

Next week, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) is hosting its 105th annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.This year, the meeting will focus on the theme, "Towards a Thriving Planet: Charting the Course Across Scales." The theme focuses on providing “actionable science for society-at-large to chart a future course for a more hopeful and thriving planet” in the context of global

Higher temperatures can cause droughts even with normal precipitationHigher temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change made an ordinary drought into an exceptional drought that parched the American West from 2020-2022, according to a new study by scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), and the

Alaska’s boreal forests are declining, as increasing drought stress and fire kill off the next generation of conifer trees. Where boreal forest has disappeared, new plant communities—like grasslands and aspen forests—have begun to take its place. Elsewhere, in the southeastern United States, droughts have decimated saltmarsh vegetation, turning saltmarshes into mudflats or open

Today, the NOAA Climate Program Office’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) program jointly announced $4.9 million in funding for NOAA labs and research partners to improve drought monitoring and prediction in the American West. This research combines $3.1 million in funding from NIDIS and $1.8 million from the

The American Meteorological Society’s 104th Annual Meeting is fast approaching. This year’s meeting, which will be held on January 28–February 1 in Baltimore, will focus on the theme, "Living in a Changing Environment." This theme centers on “defin[ing] the steps and scientific advances necessary to minimize the impacts of climate change, and to engage policy makers and the public in that

Key Points:Climate change is causing the probability of extreme events, like drought, to change, a phenomenon known statistically as “non-stationarity.” Challenges include identifying the differences between permanent change (e.g., long-term trends towards wetter or drier conditions) and temporary anomalies from normal conditions (e.g., drought).Changes in how we assess drought could impact

The American Meteorological Society is hosting its 104th annual meeting on January 28–February 1, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland. This year, the meeting will focus on the theme, "Living in a Changing Environment." The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is excited to co-chair sessions during the 38th Conference on Hydrology on Advancements in Analysis and Prediction of Drought

The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a research institute sponsored jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado Boulder, recently awarded bronze medals for superior performance to eight team members from NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). These medals reaffirm the successful

The American Meteorological Society is hosting its 103rd annual meeting on January 8–12, 2023, in Denver, Colorado. This year, the meeting will focus on the theme, "Data: Driving Science. Informing Decisions. Enriching Humanity.” The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and its partners are excited to co-chair several sessions related to drought analysis and prediction, flash