How climate change will affect CA hydroclimate and impact economic sectors.

Capsule bios for presenters at drought forum in Sacramento, May 15-16, 2014.

CNAP newsletter summarizes 2014 drought in California. 

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for December 2015 and January – February 2016. 

Report from first-ever meeting of state drought coordinators, emergency managers and state climatologists from across the West on July 21-22, 2015, to discuss emerging best practices in forecasting, planning for and responding to drought, and recent lessons learned. Held in Seattle, WA, hosted by NOAA, NIDIS, National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the Western Governors’ Association (WGA). Representatives from 16 of the 19 states within WGA attended (AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, KS, MT, NB, NV, NM, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY).

How different El Niños have affected California at different times, and their relative strengths. A strong El Niño can result in a continuing drought year like water year 1992, an average year like 1973, or a wet year like 1983, so there is not a certain cause and effect relationship between precipitation and El Niño. 

A science assessment by a subgroup of the NOAA Drought Task Force. Recognizing the sensitivity of likely impacts on California winter precipitation to El Niño intensity, and also recognizing the spread of possible outcomes even for a very strong El Niño, the outlook must be expressed probabilistically.

California Drought Outlook from February 20, 2014.

May 2015 Drought in Southern California update.