Drought, El Nino and California’s Climate Variability
in the Face of Change
Topic: Drought, El Nino and California’s Climate Variability in the Face of Change
Speaker: Michael Anderson, State Climatologist, California Department of
Water Resources
When: Friday, April 8, 2016, 12 pm - 1 pm
Where: Sacramento State, 6000 J Street | Santa Clara Hall, Room 1207
Map
This seminar series is open to the public. Food will be provided for the first
20–25 people to arrive.
Topic Overview
California possesses a spatially diverse climate that fluctuates on many time scales. Since the beginning of the 21st century, California has experienced multiple droughts that each featured new extremes. Water year 2016 is playing out on a background of the strongest El Nino event in 18 years and a changing climate. In this talk, we will explore the spatial and temporal variability in California’s climate, examine climate and weather features that influence the character of water year outcomes, including El Nino, and look ahead to what the future might be with climate change.
About the Speaker
Michael Anderson works for the California Department of Water Resources and is currently serving as State Climatologist for California. Michael began working in the Department of Water Resources Division of Flood Management (DWR-DFM) Forecasting Section in July 2005. He came to DWR after extensive graduate and post-graduate work at UC Davis in the area of hydroclimate system modeling and monitoring. He received his PhD in 1998 and MS in 1993 in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Davis. He received his bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University in 1991.
