Role of the Maryland State Climatologist Kenneth E. Pickering Maryland State Climatologist Department of Meteorology University of Maryland College Park Maryland Climate Change Workshop August 6, 2003

Functions of the Office of the State Climatologist Archive climatic data for the State of Maryland Fulfill requests for data from the public Maintain a web page for distribution of data and climate information Conduct special climate analyses Drought Temperature and precipitation trends Snowfall frequency distributions Agricultural applications

Functions (continued) Participate in media interviews Presentations concerning Maryland Climate to community groups Data analyses in support of air quality modeling efforts

Data Sources 36 current NWS Cooperative stations 18 former NWS Cooperative stations 3 NWS/FAA airport stations 30 “other” volunteer observer stations Meso-net stations (to be added) Aircraft profiles

Maryland State Climatologist Office Data Requests

Examples of Material on Maryland State Climatologist Office Web Page 30-year normals for NWS stations Growing season data Interannual variability Decadal trends Longer-term climate change

Drought Maximum rainfall deficits: Aug – Aug Conowingo Dam20.96” Vienna18.28” Baltimore City17.97” Salisbury17.93” Royal Oak17.86” Beltsville17.79” BWI Airport17.59”

Drought Comparisons 8/01-8/0217 to 21 inch deficits over much of state except Garrett Co. 7/98-7/9912 to 21 inch deficits west of bay; 10 to 11 inch on Eastern Shore 5/64-5/6515 to 18 inch deficits over much of state except Garrett Co. 8/65-8/6615 to 19 inch deficits over much of state except Garrett Co. 1/30-1/3116 to 26 inch deficit

4.09 deg./100 yrs.

0.55 deg/100 yrs.

12.93 deg./100 yrs.

Temperature Trends Baltimore City+9.88 o F/100 yr Chestertown+8.95 Glenn Dale Laurel+8.71 Oakland+9.67 Royal Oak Salisbury Woodstock+12.93

Temperature Departures From Normal (in Degrees Fahrenheit) Station Dec ’01 Dep. From Normal Dec ’02 Dep. From Normal Jan ’02 Dep. From Normal Jan ’03 Dep. From Normal Feb ’02 Dep. From Normal Feb ’03 Dep. From Normal BWI airport Dulles airport Reagan National airport

AUGUST Baltimore City

FEBRUARY

Comparison of Annual Precipitation Normals Year BWI airport CumberlandConowingo Dam EmmitsburgMechanicsvilleSnow Hill Rockville in in in in in in in in in in in in in in. % increase in normals

Annual Mean # of Days with Snowfall Frederick County

Base = 50 o F

Study Area and Selected Locations of Fixed Position UMD Aircraft Spirals in spirals in MD *College Park, MDCambridge, MD *Fort Meade, MD Annapolis, MD *Cumberland, MDChurchville, MD Easton, MD 56 spirals in VA *Richmond, VACrewe, VA Luray, VAQuinton, VA Winchester, VATappahannock, VA Ashland, VAWakefield, VA Louisa, VA 39 spirals in PA, NY, ME *Erie, PA, *Ithaca, NY *Saratoga Springs, NY *Augusta, ME *Bar Harbor, ME

Summary Please visit our web site to see the various types of climate information that we offer Please contact our office if you have specific data requests or have a need for specialized climate analyses