Climate Outlooks and WebinarsKT Ingram

NIDIS Drought Early Warning System Pilot Review and Future Directions

1-2 December 2011, Lake Lanier Islands, Georgia

Outline• Why we do webinars and outlooks• Accomplishments over the past year• Future needs and opportunities

Why webinars and outlooks• NIDIS conducted a series of

workshops beginning in April 2010o Apalachicola, FL; Pine Mountain,

GA; Stone Mountain, GA; Lake Blackshear, GA

• NIDIS also held an outlook forum in Albany, GA in November 2010

• As ENSO was entering a La Niña phase, participants in these events agreed that we should alert stakeholders to the potential for drought through webinars

Webinar History and Accomplishments

• November 2010: Form committee to design webinars

• Learning from the Upper Colorado NIDIS Pilot

• Series of prototypes• Dry runs• First webinar 21 January

2011 US Drought Monitor, 1 Dec 2011

Webinar format• Introduction• Current drought

status• Conditions that led up

to the current status• Projections• Discussion of impacts• Summary

28-day streamflow, Flint at Bainbridge

Webinar evolution and summary• Based on inputs from

committee members, webinar participants, and communications experts, we have tried to develop a body of information that both gives a full context of the basin, and focuses specifically on the basin Ground water depth, Mitchell Co, GA

USGA 1 Dec 2011

Who has been involved?• The design committee included many in the room today

and others• Webinar standard content providers include:

o Florida Climate Centero US Geological Surveyo Army Corps of Engineerso SE River Forecast Center

• Special content:o UCO-Boulder/CIRESo Tallahassee NWSo FL DEP

Sea surface temperature anomaliesNOAA NESDIS, 1 Dec 2011

Future needs and opportunities• Sustaining the process

o Rely on teams, not individualso Institutionalize webinarso Automate slide production

• Inputs to drought monitor• Enlarge participation• Include media 8-14 day Precipitation

Outlook, 1 Dec 2011NOAA CPC

Thanks!Especially to everyone who has provided content and feedback, and to those who

have participated in the webinars