|
|
A 21-yr gridded monthly fire-starts and acres-burned dataset from U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs fire reports recreates the seasonality and interannual variability of wildfire in the western United States. Despite pervasive human influence in western fire regimes, it is striking how strongly these data reveal a fire season responding to variations in climate. Correlating anomalous wildfire frequency and extent with the Palmer Drought Severity Index illustrates the importance of prior and accumulated precipitation anomalies for future wildfire season severity. This link to antecedent seasons' moisture conditions varies widely with differences in...
|
While significant progress has been made in seasonal climate prediction in recent years, summertime mid-latitude climate prediction remains problematic [e.g., Gershunov and Cayan, 2003]. Several previous studies have explored the skill of Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures (PSST) in the seasonal prediction of various atmospheric variables [e.g., Barnett and Preisendorfer, 1987],but few have focused on the value of PSST in forecasting summer conditions [e.g., Douville, 2003].Advances in summertime temperature forecasts are important for planning in different economic sectors, such as the energy industry. This issue is especially important in California, where the summer peak energy demand is about 50% higher than that...
|
|
