Master Watershed Steward Climate Resources

The mission of the Master Watershed Steward program is to educate and train citizens across the state of Arizona to serve as volunteers in the protection, restoration, monitoring, and conservation of their water and watersheds. Click here for more information on the program and find out how to participate.

The resources found on this page are supplementary to the information presented in the climate training module of the MWS program.

Arizona Climate - Online Learning Module

Presentations

• An Overview of Arizona Climate for the Master Watershed Steward Program (PDF format [~3mb], web page format ; many images and data sources are linked)

Publications of Interest

• The Climate of the Southwest (Sheppard et al. 1999)
• Drought and Climate in Arizona (McPhee et al. 2004)
• Preparing for Climate Change (Sprigg, et al. 2001)

Arizona Climate Data Links

• Arizona Climate Summaries (Western Regional Climate Center)
• Local Climate Data Summaries (WRCC)
• Precipitation Frequency Data (National Weather Service)
• Climate Extremes (WRCC)
• Arizona Climate Narrative (WRCC)

Drought Monitoring

• Drought Monitor (Univ of Neb.)
• Arizona drought monitoring (Tucson, Phoenix)
• Arizona Drought Task Force

Climate Monitoring

• Interactive Climate Division Time Series Plots (NOAA-CDC)
• Standardized Precipitation Index Plots (WRCC)
• Western U.S. Snowpack Monitoring (NRCS/WRCC)
• Arizona Reservoir Levels (NRCS)
• Arizona Streamflow Data (USGS)

Climate Prediction

• 8-14 day Climate Outlooks
• Seasonal Climate Outlooks
• IRI Climate Forecasts

ENSO, PDO, & MJO

• The ENSO Cycle (NOAA-CPC)
• El Nino/La Nina Watch (NASA)
• Multivariate ENSO Index (NOAA-CDC)
• Real-time ENSO Monitoring (NOAA-PMEL)
• Pacific Decadal Oscillation (Univ of Wash.)
• Madden-Julian Oscillation Tutorial (NOAA-CPC)

North American Monsoon System

• About the Arizona Monsoon (NWS)
• North American Monsoon Experiment

Wildfires and Climate

• Climate and wildfire connection