NOAA's Climate Prediction Center Celebrates Silver Anniversary at Annual Climate Diagnostic & Prediction Workshop

         The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) will celebrate its 25th Anniversary at its Annual Climate Diagnostic and Prediction Workshop in Madison, Wis. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

         "Compared to weather forecasting which has been around since 1871, climate forecasting is in its infancy," said Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), director of NOAA's National Weather Service. "In 25 years, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has made major strides toward the understanding of significant climate features world-wide and their impacts on weather."

         Established in 1979, the Climate Prediction Center serves the public by assessing and forecasting the impacts of short-term climate variability, emphasizing enhanced risks of weather-related extreme events, for use in mitigating losses and maximizing economic gains.

         CPC leads the way as the U.S. government's official organization charged with the responsibility of monitoring and forecasting El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and other climate and weather driving forces and their influence on weather patterns and extremes. Some of CPC's cornerstone products include monthly ENSO Diagnostics Discussions, 6-10 Day and 8-14 Day Outlooks for the U.S. (daily), U.S. Monthly and Seasonal Outlooks (issued monthly), the U.S. Drought Monitor (updated weekly), the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (monthly), the U.S. Hazards Assessment (updated several times each week), and Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook (May and August).

         "These are in addition to hundreds of products developed and operationally maintained to collect and process data from the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) into products important for monitoring global weather and climate conditions," said Jim Laver, director NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

         CPC continues to be a pioneer in climate prediction. During the past few years, CPC has been a part of many advancements in climate research, monitoring and forecasting. In August 2004, a new Climate Forecast System (CFS), which models the coupled global ocean/atmosphere system, was implemented into the NCEP operational model suite. The development of the CFS was led by NOAA.s Environmental Modeling Center and represents a major breakthrough in dynamic modeling of climate variability in the seasonal forecasts.

         "The first 25 years of climate services are a tribute to those - in a number of interdisciplinary fields - who have contributed to improved understanding and prediction of climate from next week to next year," said Dr. Louis Uccellini, director, NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction. "The next 25 years will continue these efforts with CPC remaining a vibrant Service Center and built upon service-science linkages with the broad research community," he added.

         As in years past, the Annual Climate Diagnostic and Prediction Workshop continues to provide an opportunity for national and international scientists from the corporate, government and university communities to present state-of-the-art research on climate variability. "Climate is a global phenomenon. In order to continue to make major advancements in our understanding and prediction of the dynamics of the environment, we must work in collaboration with the greater climate community. The goal of the workshop is to bring together scientists from around the world to discuss aspects of climate with the ultimate goal of improving climate monitoring and forecasting," said Jim Laver, director NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. The workshop runs from Oct. 18-22, 2004.

         NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events, and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.

Relevant Web sites:
NOAA
Annual Climate Diagnostic and Prediction Workshop
NOAA's Climate Prediction Center