AWOC Instructional Component

IC Winter 4: Climatology

General Information

Estimated IC Completion Time

3 hours

Description

This instructional component is important because forecasters need to become aware of large scale weather patterns that affect winter weather prediction. Knowing the local climatology helps forecasters recognize patterns which are condusive to winter weather. In addition, the capability of society to adapt to winter events is dependent on the relative rarity of the anticipated event.

Testing Procedures

Testing for Instructional Components (IC) lessons is provided to the student using the NWS Learning Management System (LMS). If testing is required, the test must be successfully completed in order to complete the lessons. A score of at least 70% on the exam is required to successfully complete each lesson.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Using Climate Prediction Center Products to Assess Large Scale, Slowly Evolving Flow Patterns
Description	This lesson describes some of the large scale mechanisms (like ENSO, MJO, and NAO) that affect winter weather over the U.S. Julie Adolphson (MIC, NWS GGW) shows you where users can find this information on CPC and CDC web sites, and explains some of the rationale for seasonal forecasts. In 2008, these lessons have been transformed from four to three parts. However, the longer versions of these lessons are still available to you should you desire a more detailed explanation of these climatic patterns.
Estimated Lesson Completion Time	1 hour, 30 min.	Module Type	Articulate Presenter Modules
Resources
Exercises	IC4.1 job sheets
Review Sheets & Hand Outs	IC 4.1 Part 1 student handout (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat) IC 4.1 Part 2 student handout (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat) IC 4.1 Part 3 student handout (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat)
Lesson Links	NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s): IC 4.1 Part 1: ENSO IC 4.1 Part 2: MJO IC 4.1 Part 3: Teleconnections See the lessons page for the longer versions of these lessons (parts 1, 2, 3, and 4)

Lesson 2: Assessing the Climatological Rarity of Hazardous winter weather
Description	This lesson, narrated by Rich Grumm (CTP), describes how to create a useful climatology using the NCEP/NCAR global re-analysis (GR) data and NARR data. It shows you how to quantify if an anomaly is significant and the potential impact of the anomaly on winter weather. Several examples are presented to help you understand how to apply standardized anomalies to determine if an event may be significant or not. Finally, the lesson illustrates how to apply climatic means and standard deviations to model data. This will allow you to gage your system against the climatology. Additionally, the lesson covers strengths and limitations of climatic anomalies.
Estimated Lesson Completion Time	50 min.	Module Type	Articulate Presenter Module
Resources
Exercises	IC4.2 job sheets (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat).
Review Sheets & Hand Outs	IC 4.2 Part 1 student handout (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat) IC 4.2 Part 2 student handout (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat)
Lesson Links	NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s): IC 4.2 Part 1: Building a Climatology (Optional) IC 4.2 Part 2: Applying Climatic Anomalies to EPS Data

Lesson 3: Microclimates: Interaction of Synoptic patterns with Local Terrain
Description	The lesson, narrated by Eric Stevens (AFG), talks about how microclimates modify the local meteorological effects in your CWA. Some of these effects are important considerations in the winter weather warning decision making process. The lesson describes some broad categories of microclimates with some examples shown from the Fairbanks CWA.
Estimated Lesson Completion Time	25 min.	Module Type	Articulate Presenter Module
Resources
Exercises	IC 4.3 jobsheets (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat).
Review Sheets & Hand Outs	IC 4.3 student handout (80 MB PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat).
Lesson Links	NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s): IC 4.3: Microclimates: Interaction of Synoptic Patterns with Local Terrain

Contact

Email

The Winter AWOC IC 4 Development Team

Telephone

(405) 573-3350