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California-Nevada Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar: May 28, 2024

Event Date
May 28, 2024
Event Time
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Timezone
PT
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The May Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar provided updates on post-April 1 conditions in California and Nevada, including snowmelt, and a recent study exploring how drought impacts National Park visitation in California.

Timestamp
0:00

Welcome to the California-Nevada Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar

Speaker: Amanda Sheffield | California-Nevada Regional Drought Information Coordinator, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)

 

Timestamp
6:20

Influence of Drought on Recreation Timing and Volume at California National Parks

Speaker: Jeffrey Jenkins | University of California Merced

  • Drought conditions (e.g., reduced snowpack, earlier peak runoff, lower streamflow, lake and reservoir levels) have direct effects on the availability of outdoor recreation activities, such as reduced river flow or low water elevations in lakes.
  • Drought may also create indirect impacts—for example, wildfires in the parks or adjacent areas that reduced access or degraded air quality. Indirect effects include impacting vegetation, wildlife habitats, and scenic resources associated with recreation, and the likelihood of disturbances (e.g., wildfire). These impacts may result in restrictions in certain activities, impacts to infrastructure, and park closures.
  • This study examined overall park visitation data (broken up by mountain parks, arid parks, and coastal parks) from 1979–2019 by month. Each park was assigned an annual Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) value based on a June-July-August monthly average.
  • Findings:
    • More highly visited parks are moderately sensitive to drought given visitors’ expectations of seasonal conditions, fire risk, etc., though these visits are often inflexible as visitors must  reserve lodging well before their visit. 
    • Parks that are typically dry exhibit the greatest variability between extreme drought or wet conditions. 
    • Parks with moderate visitation levels and not in urban areas may be affected marginally more by extreme wet or dry conditions because of their remote locations and a small absolute change in visitors equates to relatively large departure from the average. 
  • An additional study examined spring snowpack (i.e., snow drought) influences on overnight visitation to the Yosemite wilderness.
  • Read more about these studies. 

 

Timestamp
30:45

Drought & Climate Outlook & Update

Speaker: Scott Rowe | NOAA NWS Sacramento Weather Forecast Office

  • California has one of the most distinct wet vs. dry seasons in the U.S.
  • Water Year 2023–2024 was an “abnormally normal” water year. 
  • La Niña is expected to materialize (~70% chance) by late summer. 
  • Summer (June-July-August) temperature odds lean toward above-normal conditions, while odds lean towards equal chances of above-, below-, or near-normal precipitation.
  • Check out the National Weather Service’s HeatRisk tool for a 24-hour period forecast of the risk of heat-related impacts.

 

Timestamp
54:52

Closing

Speaker: Amanda Sheffield | California-Nevada Regional Drought Information Coordinator, CIRES, NOAA/NIDIS 

  • Register now for the next webinar in this series on Monday, July 22, 2024 at 11 a.m. PT.

 

About This Webinar

The California-Nevada Drought Early Warning System (CA-NV DEWS) May 2024 Drought & Climate Outlook Webinar is part of a series of regular drought and climate outlook webinars. These webinars provide stakeholders and other interested parties in the region with timely information on current drought status and impacts, as well as a preview of current and developing climatic events (i.e., El Niño and La Niña). 

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).

National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)

California-Nevada Adaptation Program.

California-Nevada Adaptation Program (A NOAA CAP/RISA Team)

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Western Regional Climate Center

University of California, Merced.

University of California, Merced

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National Weather Service (NWS)

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