The MRCC and Monitoring Drought in the Midwest

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1 The and Monitoring Drought in the Midwest Steve Hilberg Director, Illinois State Water Survey Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois

2 The A partner of a national climate service program that includes the National Climatic Data Center Regional s State Climate Offices National Weather Service

3 Goals and Objectives Increase value and usage of currently available climatic information Coordinate data from regional and state data networks Develop special and regional climate databases Serve as a clearinghouse for climate information Operate near real-time climate information systems Plan, organize, and conduct applied climate research Perform educational, extension-type programs

4 History of the RCCs Program developed in response to mandate in National Climate Program Act of 1978 Three demonstration projects operated Congress appropriated funds beginning in 1986 to fund regional climate centers

5 History of the RCCs Western RCC Desert Research Institute Midwestern RCC Illinois State Water Survey High Plains RCC University of Nebraska Northeast RCC 1989 Cornell University Southeast RCC 1990 South Carolina Water Resources Commission Southern RCC 1990 Louisiana State University

6 Regional s

7 M R C C Illinois State Water Survey Champaign, IL Serves the nine-state Midwest region with climate data, information, and applied research on climate-sensitive issues such as: Agriculture Climate change Energy Environment Human health Risk management Transportation Water resources

8 Major Activities of the Climate services Providing access to climate data and climate products Monitoring of climate conditions (particularly extremes) On-going Midwest Climate Watch Assessment of Impacts Drought Flooding Specific weather events

9 Major Activities of the Applied research and development Extreme events - trend and historical perspective Understanding the relationship of climate to societal impacts Climate change Data enhancement Data assessment Data completeness and quality

10 The Midwest Climate Watch offers a onestop shop for current climate conditions in the Midwest. Products are automatically updated each day

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13 Drought Monitoring National Regional State/Local

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15 Midwest Drought Information Page The Drought Monitor - Midwest Region The Drought Monitor offers a quick graphical overview of conditions in the Midwest. This is automatically updated every Thursday morning.

16 Midwest Drought Information Page Precipitation Maps Precipitation maps are available for the last 30, 90, and 180 days. Daily, month-to-date and 7-day maps are available on the main Climate Watch page.

17 Midwest Drought Information Page County Level Modeled Soil Moisture The soil moisture amounts for the three levels are calculated using a multi-level soil model responding to daily temperature and precipitation in the counties of the region. Daily estimates of precipitation are obtained from The National Weather Service Multi-sensor Precipitation Estimate product. Daily temperatures are derived from the NOAA cooperative observer network. County-level soil characteristics were derived from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) climate division database.

18 Midwest Drought Information Page Palmer Drought indices The Palmer Crop Moisture Index is a short-term index that indicates whether soils have enough moisture to meet the short-term needs of crops.

19 Midwest Drought Information Page Palmer Drought indices

20 Midwest Drought Information Page Palmer Drought indices The Palmer Z-Index represents the change in soil moisture conditions over the last month due to the imbalance between precipitation and water lost to the air and plants and to runoff. It is a short term measure of the direction of moisture change, with positive numbers indicating wetter conditions, and negative numbers indicating drier conditions.

21 Midwest Drought Information Page Palmer Drought indices The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is a measure of precipitation that is comparable across time and space. The index is based on the statistical distribution of rainfall amounts for a given location and period of time. An index of zero is the median value, positive numbers indicate wet conditions, and negative numbers represent dry conditions. Because the probabilities are standardized by location, one can compare places with different climates using the same scale.

22 Midwest Drought Information Page USGS Streamflow This map is a snapshot of streamflow data reported to the USGS system in real time.

23 Midwest Drought Information Page Outlooks The Drought Outlook, and 30- and 90-day precipitation outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center A link to the U.S. Drought Portal (NIDIS)

24 Midwest Drought Information Page Fills the continuum between a national perspective and local perspective on drought Links to the local, and back to the national