Educating the Public on the North American Monsoon
Educating the Public on the North American Monsoon System (NAMS) January 12, 2009 Glen Sampson and Erik Pytlak National Weather Service Tucson, Arizona
Historical Perspective n Traditionally the NAMS in Arizona was tracked with surface-based techniques • Precipitation (raininess) Index • Three consecutive days of 55 o. F average dew point at the Phoenix airport (54 o. F in Tucson) n n These techniques originated in the 1960 s and 70 s. A monsoon start and end could be declared
Historical Problems n n Surface-based techniques did not take into account remote sensing or modeling advances, nor the large scale circulation processes associated with NAMS. Severe weather would occur before the monsoon “started”.
Educating the Public n Changed the definition of the monsoon in Arizona based on climatological data • Now June 15 through September 30 n n n Worked closely with the media on these changes. Provided new real-time tracking methods for the NAMS on the web. Documented our increased understanding of NAMS on the web.
Tracking the Monsoon n n n n Dew point graphs Winds for 700, 500 and 300 mb Heights for 500 mb Satellite-derived vegetation index Satellite water vapor imagery Radar precipitation estimates for 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours Upper air plots Links to Maricopa and Pima county rainfall data http: //www. wrh. noaa. gov/twc/monsoon_tracker. php
Tracking the Monsoon http: //www. wrh. noaa. gov/twc/monsoon_tracker. php
Comprehensive Climatological Data http: //www. wrh. noaa. gov/twc/monsoon. php
Monsoon Science http: //www. wrh. noaa. gov/twc/monsoon_info. php
Questions? weather. gov/Tucson
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