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)

• Welcome to the July California-Nevada Drought & Climate Outlook webinar. 
• Sign up for NIDIS emails as well as drought alerts.
• State and regional drought information can be found on drought.gov: California, Nevada, California-Nevada Drought Early Warning System.

Drought and Climate Update and Outlook

Speaker: Joseph Casola |  NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Western Regional Climate Services Director

• Current conditions: 
  • U.S. Drought Monitor shows very little drought in California-Nevada with less than 1% in Moderate Drought (D1).
  • Summer featured record breaking heat and a busy June-July for California wildfires.  
• Outlook:
  • The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center (CPC) 8-14 Day Outlook reflects elevated chances for warmer-than-average conditions and slight risk for high winds.
  • CPC Monthly and Seasonal Outlooks lean toward warmer- and drier-than-average for the interior region and equal chances of normal, below normal, and above normal temperature and precipitation for the coast.
  • Likely transition to La Niña in the fall. 

Subseasonal Prediction Source from the Tropics

Speaker: Jiabao Wang  | Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, Scripps/UC San Diego

• The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is considered a prominent source of Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) predictability because of its pronounced impacts on extratropical weather and its potential predictability at S2S lead times. 
• The linkage between MJO and extratropical cyclones is largely dependent on El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases. 
• The MJO can interrupt the canonical ENSO-precipitation relationship (such as in Water Year 2023). 

Read more about this study. 

Drought and Public Health Roadmap and Messaging Research for Public Health Providers

Speaker: Summer Woolsey, MPH | University of Nebraska Medical Center

• Public health and healthcare professionals are key partners in drought work.
• Finding ways to translate drought and climate research into practical tools for the community is critical.
• The Drought and Public Health Roadmap and Drought and Health Messaging Framework documents are available to help these professionals understand and communicate drought. 

Q&A and Conclusion

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

• Register now for the next webinar in this series on Monday, September 23, 2024 at 11 a.m. PT.