A Conflicted May-to-Date
The first half of May featured a little bit of everything. While many areas saw below-normal temperatures, several places, including six major climate sites, had one of their 20 warmest May 1-15 periods. Meanwhile, this May 1-15 period ranked among the 20 driest on record for 18 major climate sites; however, a handful of locations, including Beckley, WV, were quite wet.
Read more in the NRCC BlogClimate News
40 Years of the Regional Climate Center Program
The Regional Climate Center (RCC) Program is celebrating its 40th anniversary! While its roots trace back to 1978, the program was greenlit in 1983 and the Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) at Cornell University was officially created. Over the years, the program grew to include six regional climate centers that span the U.S.
Along the way, the NRCC has been at the forefront of turning recent and historical weather data into actionable information and effective decision-making tools. For instance, the NRCC created the web-based climate data interfaces of CLIMOD (for stakeholders and the public), xmACIS and NOWData (for the National Weather Service), AgACIS (for the U.S. Department of Agriculture), and SC-ACIS (for state climatologists), making climate data easily accessible for over 20 years. Meanwhile, the NRCC has collaborated with partners on a multitude of projects including a suite of tools for integrated pest management and crop production, using extreme rainfall statistics to inform stormwater management and design practices, and the development of a drought early warning dashboard.
Regional Climatologist Keith Eggleston, who has been with the NRCC since its inception and is the longest-serving RCC climatologist, shares his perspective on how RCC climate services have changed over the decades, “It has been exciting to watch the Regional Climate Centers evolve from two small test programs into one of the nation's leading providers of climate services. It is amazing how the advances in technology over the past four decades allow us to process and distribute data and information in ways that we could never have imagined 40 years ago. Being able to use these tools to take raw weather data and convert it into products that meet the needs of a very broad spectrum of users has been personally fulfilling.”
Website Highlights
Weather Station Data
Weather Station Data includes location-specific information, such as wind data, evapotranspiration, and daily almanacs.
CLIMOD 2 is a user-friendly website to find single-station and multi-station climate products for locations accross the country. For example, the Seasonal Ranking report produces a graph and table of extremes or other summaries for a specified period for each year.
Go to CLIMOD 2State & Regional Analyses
These provide several map types, regional climate summaries, snow survey data, and drought information.
The Monthly Maps offer a variety of monthly precipitation and temperature departure maps for any given month for the Northeast region or a selected state.
Go to Monthly Map pageAnalyses for Industry
Analyses for Industry shows products the NRCC has created through partnerships with various industries.
The Apple Frost Risk page has maps and animations for Red Delicious, Empire, and McIntosh apples. The maps show accumulated chill, growing degree days, phenological stages, and kill probability.
Go to Apple Frost RiskClimate Change Resources
Climate Change Resources includes normal difference maps as well as climate links.
Climate Links offer an abundance of resources for the Northeast across multiple sectors …
Go to Climate Change Resources pageWebinars & Workshops
Webinars & Workshops provides recordings and presentations from the monthly webinar series, as well as information on past and upcoming workshops.
The Northeast Regional Climate Center hosts a monthly webinar series with NOAA affiliates to address timely weather and climate concerns.
Go to Monthly WebinarsPublications & Services
Publications & Services includes the NRCC blog, quarterly outlooks, as well as other reports and publications.
The Quarterly Outlooks are seasonal climate highlights and outlook for the upcoming season for the Eastern, Region, Great Lakes, and Gulf of Maine. Published in March, June, September and December.
Go to Quarterly Reports