Application of the NMME in the Development of a New Regional Seasonal Climate Forecast Tool

Abstract

he National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration?s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) provides access to a suite of real-time monthly climate forecasts that compose the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) in an attempt to meet the increasing demands for monthly to seasonal climate prediction. While the North American and global map-based forecasts provided by CPC are informative on a broad or continental scale, operational and decision-making institutions need products with a much more specific regional focus. To address this need, we developed a Region-Specific Seasonal Climate Forecast (RSCF?NMME) tool by combining NMME forecasts with regional climatological data. The RSCF?NMME automatically downloads and archives data and is displayed via a dynamic web-based graphical user interface. The tool has been applied to the Great Lakes region and utilized as part of operational water-level forecasting procedures by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District (USACE-Detroit). Evaluation of the tool, compared with seasonal climate forecasts released by CPC, shows that the tool can provide additional useful information to users and overcomes some of the limitations of the CPC forecasts. The RSCF?NMME delivers details about a specific region?s climate, verification observations, and the ability to view different model forecasts. With its successful implementation within an operational environment, the tool has proven beneficial and thus set a precedent for expansion to other regions where there is a demand for region-specific seasonal climate forecasts.