Workshops to Explore Long-term Forecast Prospects for Missouri River Basin

The Center for Research on the Changing Earth System (CRCES), the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are holding workshops on decadal climate variability in the Missouri River Basin (MRB). The workshops are part of a project funded by the Sectoral Application Research Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office. Workshops will be at the National Weather Service Training Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27-28, 2009, and in Helena, Montana, June 24-25, 2009.

During this workshop, researchers will show that climatic events on the decadal scale -- long-term climate cycles -- have had major effects in the MRB. Participants will be provided scenarios showing the relationship between various phenomena that occur in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and multiyear to decadal droughts and wet periods in the MRB.

Discussions will focus on gathering information about the effects of drought in the late 1970s, the 1980s, and the most recent drought period in this decade, as well as the prolonged wet period of the 1990s. Stakeholders and leaders will also focus on the potential for developing future decadal climate outlooks and management options that would be useful in preparing for and coping with droughts and wet periods.

Specific stakeholder groups have been invited in the lower Missouri River Basin, but there is still room for about two more people. For more information, please contact Nicole Wall, NDMC Outreach and Research Specialist, nwall2@unl.edu or 402-472-6776.

Kansas City Workshop Flyer
http://drought.unl.edu/news/workshopkansascity09/Kansas_City_workshop_flyer.pdf

Missouri River Basin Climateer
http://drought.unl.edu/news/workshopkansascity09/Missouri-Basin_Climateer.pdf

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