THE SCIPP NEWSLETTER:
SPRING EDITION
April 2021
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In This Issue...
- Trend Analysis of Multiple Extreme Hourly Precipitation Time Series in the Southeastern United States
- 2021 American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting Overview
- Planning Process and Financial Assistance Resource Compilation
- SCIPP Gulf Coast Workshop Overview
- SCIPP Team Member Highlight - Caylah Cruickshank
- SC-CASC April Webinar - How Climate Change is Impacting Severe Weather Events
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Trend Analysis of Multiple Extreme Hourly Precipitation Times Series in the Southeastern United States
Brown, V. M., Keim, B. D., & Black, A. W. (2020). Trend Analysis of Multiple Extreme Hourly Precipitation Time Series in the Southeastern United States, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 59(3), 436. Retrieved Mar 22, 2021, from https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/apme/59/3/jamc-d-19-0119.1.xml © American Meteorological Society. Used with permission.
In March of 2020, SCIPP researchers at Louisiana State University Dr. Vincent Brown and Dr. Barry Keim, in collaboration with Dr. Alan Black at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, published a study titled, Trend Analysis of Multiple Extreme Hourly Precipitation Time Series in the Southeastern United States in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. The study centers on changes in extreme hourly precipitation time series and took place from 1960-2017.
During the study period, the annual magnitude of the greatest 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 18- hourly periods did not show many significant trends. These results suggest that the single biggest annual hourly precipitation events did not change in magnitude in the region across the 50 weather stations that were analyzed. However, the magnitude of annual hourly 90th percentile events showed significant increasing at 36% of the sites analyzed, suggesting that, while the single biggest events in a year are not changing, hourly magnitudes of lesser events are increasing at some stations in the Southeast United States. These results are illustrated in the figure above.
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2021 American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
SCIPP was proud to present at the 2021 American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting. The meeting, which was held virtually, took place in mid-January. The theme was, “Strengthening Engagement with Communities through Our Science and Service.” This theme fit perfectly with the recent research of SCIPP Deputy Director Rachel Riley and University of Oklahoma graduate student Anna Wanless. 
Rachel discussed her recent publication, “An Evaluation of the Utility of a Decision-Maker-Driven Climate Hazard Assessment Tool,” which sought to understand how decision makers viewed the usefulness of the Simple Planning Tool (SPT) for interpreting climate data. The tool was found to have high utility among the target audience. The data from this evaluation helps SCIPP and similar organizations better understand how planners and emergency managers use the information provided by climate decision support tools.
Anna presented preliminary findings from her Master’s thesis, “Examining Extreme Rainfall Forecast and Communication Processes in the South Central United States," which addresses the research questions: How do NWS forecasters handle model outliers during extreme rainfall events? How do they communicate outlier events? When forecasting extreme rainfall events do forecasters consider climate change? If so, how?
Early results from interviews of twenty-one NWS forecasters were discussed, including how an information processing model and sensemaking and decision-making frameworks can be applied to the forecast and communication processes during these events. The results will help improve understanding of forecast communication processes.
Image source: “101st American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting.” AMS, 2021, ams.confex.com/ams/101ANNUAL/meetingapp.cgi/Home/0.
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Planning for Climate Resilience and Adaptation: A Compilation of Planning Process and Financial Assistance Resources for Communities in the South Central United States
We have produced a new resource to help communities in the South Central United States take measures to improve climate resilience and adaptation. According to previous stakeholder feedback, some are lacking awareness of available process and financial resources. Additionally, some are overwhelmed with the amount of information available online. Planning for Climate Resilience and Adaptation: A Compilation of Planning Process and Financial Assistance Resources for Communities in the South Central United States showcases planning process and financial assistance resources that are available to local, regional, tribal and state government officials, non-profits, businesses, or anyone who is interested. The resource compilation is broken into four major sections: Documents and Websites, Webinar Series and Podcasts, Consulting Services (Free to $$$), and Financial Assistance Resources. The document was produced by University of Oklahoma regional and city planning graduate student Jessica Langsdon, SCIPP Deputy Director Rachel Riley, and SCIPP Climate Assessment Specialist Darrian Bertrand.
Image source: “Planning Process and Financial Assistance Resources Compilation.” Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program - News, 2021, www.southernclimate.org/pages/news/planning-process-and-financial-assistance-resources-compilation.
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Results From Past SCIPP Workshop
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SCIPP Team Member Highlight
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Caylah Cruickshank joined the SCIPP team in the summer of 2020 as the new Program Manager. Caylah is native of Canada, where she grew up in the bustling city of Montreal.
Before joining the SCIPP team in 2020, Caylah was a Graduate Assistant in the University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics department, where she led initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion among staff, administration, and student-athletes, through the OU Athletics Diversity Council. She also served as an assistant in both Athletics Marketing and Human Resources. Caylah holds a Master of Public Administration from OU, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Management and minor in Marketing from Tulane University, where she was also a Division 1 basketball player.
As SCIPP’s Program Manager, Caylah is responsible for managing the administrative side of the NOAA grant, which includes corresponding with NOAA Program Managers, answering NOAA requests, and SCIPP Annual Reports. Her research interests include impacts of climate policy decisions on vulnerable communities and the topic of environmental justice.
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The Southern Plains Climate Science Webinar Series is set to hold its second of four webinars in 2021 on April 22. The series is a joint initiative between the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southern Plains Climate Hub, and SCIPP.
The upcoming webinar is designed to inform participants on how climate change exacerbates severe weather threats to communities and agriculture. Featuring a panel-style discussion with experts in the field of agriculture, emergency management, and meteorology, the webinar will address these issues of future severe weather hazards.
“Webinars & Workshops.” South Central CASC, 2021, southcentralclimate.org/resources/webinars-workshops/.
The webinar will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 22, 2021. Registration is open to all who are interested, and participants may sign up at the link below.
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Follow SCIPP On Social Media
For the latest climate news, follow SCIPP on Facebook and Twitter. Research updates and other news may also be found on our website.
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DogmoComics. “Hurricane Lesson.” Reddit. 17 March 2021. https://www.reddit.com/r/comics/comments/aejdm2/hurricane_lesson_oc/
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