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Southwest Drought Briefing: September 16, 2021

Event Date
September 16, 2021
Event Time
11:00 am - 11:30 am
Timezone
MDT
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The most recent United States Drought Monitor indicates that nearly all of the Southwest is experiencing some level of drought. Recent monsoonal rain has improved drought conditions, but extreme and exceptional drought persists for much of the region. This short drought briefing focused on drought conditions for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada, followed by the seasonal climate outlooks and an overview of forecast products from the Climate Prediction Center.

For more information, please contact Joel Lisonbee (joel.lisonbee@noaa.gov).

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0:00

Welcome to the Southwest Drought Update

Speaker: Joel Lisonbee | NOAA/National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

  • Welcome to the Southwest Drought Briefing. These half-hour webinars will be held monthly for as long as this region is experiencing extreme and exceptional drought conditions.
  • Introduction of speakers:
    • Steph McAfee, Nevada State Climatologist, University of Nevada, Reno
    • Jon Gottschalck, Chief, Operational and Predictions Branch of the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center

 

Timestamp
4:13

Drought & Climate Update

Speaker: Steph McAfee | Nevada State Climatologist, University of Nevada, Reno

  • Summer rains were a (messy) benefit to parts of the Southwest.
  • Long-term drought continues.
  • Drought is still impacting water resources, wildfire, and agriculture.

 

Timestamp
15:36

Climate Prediction Center Seasonal Outlook and Overview of the Prediction Process 

Speaker: Jon Gottschalck | Chief, Operational and Predictions Branch of the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center

  • Above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation are favored from autumn through winter 2021–2022 for the Southwest region.
  • Favored development of La Niña and associated impacts is one of the primary drivers for the outlook.
  • The Climate Prediction Center makes use of many forecast tools—based on both statistical relationships as well as dynamical model forecast output—when preparing the monthly and seasonal outlooks each month.
  • Sophisticated techniques utilizing objective, historical skill-based methods aid the forecasters in absorbing and processing the large amount of information available.

 

Timestamp
31:28

Question & Answer

Speaker: Emile Elias | USDA Southwest Climate Hub

 

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