El Paso and the Future Climate Change

Last Thursday evening, NOAA and NWS meteorologist and forecaster David Novlan gave a presentation to the Trans-Pecos Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists entitled "Some Interesting Aspects of the Climate of El Paso along with the Uncertainties of Future Climate Change". Dave has been with the NWS in El Paso from 1999 to the present. He has degrees in mathematics and atomospheric science, was chief forecaster at WhiteSands Missile Range from 1971 to 1999. He lectures and tutors at UTEP in the Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences as well as the Department of Physics.

Grist reports that NOAA released its monthly State of the Climate assessment this morning. 2012 is shaping up to be the third hottest summer ever. You can read the NOAA assessment directly.

Here in three parts is Novlan's presentation published with his permission. These are large files so be patient if the downloading is slower than usual. Since these are the Power Point back-up for his presentation, we don't have the advantage of his talk that accompanied the slides. Nevertheless, you will learn much by carefully reading each frame. To enlarge, click on the title above the frames or the icon on the bottom right of the bar which begins with Scribd. 

Some Interesting Aspects of the Climate of El Paso Along with the Uncertainties of Future Climate Change, P...


Some Interesting Aspects of the Climate of El Paso along with the Uncertainties of Future Climate Change, P...


Some Interesting Aspects of the Climate of El Paso along with the Uncertainties of Future Climate Change, P...

Accompanying Dave was John Fausett, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist  for the National Weather Service office in Santa Teresa. Fausett is also well-known for his time as a broadcast meteorologist at KVIA from 1980 to 1990 and for his original song writing and guitar playing.

John sang his song "Turn Around Don't Drown" which he wrote as part of the NWS public information campaign to warn motorists about the foolishness of crossing flooded areas.

You can hear John on Facebook and YouTube. I suggest starting with Arms of El Paso.

CoCoRaHS - Join the Rain Gauge Brigade

"Storm" copyright by and courtesy of Mike Hardiman, NOAA

If you have an interest in rain and drought -- and the effects they have on our environment here in the Borderland, then CoCoRaHS is for you!  CoCoRaHS is the Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow network, essentially a network of volunteer precipitation observers.  Armed with standardized 4" diameter rain gauges, these volunteers take daily measurements of precipitation in their own backyards, and share their data via the internet.  The data is then used by meteorologists and hydrologists to assess Flash Flooding potential, initialize river forecast models, and map out and study regional rainfall patterns.  During dry weather, even "zero precipitation reports" are useful for assessing the areal extent of drought and its impacts. To join, all you need is daily access to the internet, and a standardized rain gauge.  The gauges can be purchased for about $28 through the cocorahs.org website.  Occasionally, the regional coordinator has a few gauges to give away to serious observers.  CoCoRaHS is volunteer-friendly -- if you're out-of-town, you can send in multi-day accumulation reports when you return.  The goal is to create a spatially-dense network of observations so that a few missing reports are more tolerable.  

"CoCoRaHS people"

For more information on joining CoCoRaHS, you can visit the El Paso Area CoCoRaHS Page (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/epz/?n=cocorahsEPZ), or the national CoCoRaHS page (http://www.cocorahs.org/).  Or, you can send an email to one of the regional coordinators: Mike Hardiman in West Texas (mike.hardiman@noaa.gov), and Dave DuBois (dwdubois@nmsu.edu) or Alberta  Morgan (mitzisami@yahoo.com) in New Mexico.