Collaboration with representatives of Oklahoma’s military installations began in 2018 when SCIPP hosted a workshop to explore weather-related concerns among Oklahoma’s military installations and to identify opportunities on how to increase resiliency to severe weather, weather extremes, and climate change. The workshop involved all four Oklahoma military bases plus the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant and the Oklahoma National Guard. The meeting facilitated connections with numerous research groups and academic departments within the University of Oklahoma. The outcomes of the workshop can be found here.
Follow-on funding from NOAA’s Climate Program Office, through the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO), allowed for a more in-depth exploration of topics that arose from the meeting. SCIPP collaborated with the Oklahoma National Guard to explore seasonal-to-subseasonal predictability of winter storms and wildfires to help the Guard anticipate and prepare for potential extreme events with longer lead time. The final report for this work can be found here. CIWRO worked with the National Guard to develop a tabletop exercise that walked through scenarios related to winter storms and wildfires. The project also included an analysis of weather information needs related to readiness at Fort Sill and Tinker Air Force Base. For the final paper, click here.