Climate monitoring in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network: annual report 2011
Witwicki D. 2013. Climate monitoring in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network: annual report 2011. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/NCPN/NRTR—2013/664. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report documents the 2011 monthly and annual climate summaries and climatic extremes for National Weather Service Cooperative Observer (Coop) and SNOTEL weather stations located within park units of the Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network (NCPN) and two stations located near park boundaries. In 2011, mean annual maximum temperature tended to be below average while mean annual minimum temperature and total snowfall were average to below average throughout much of the NCPN region. There were no clear patterns in total precipitation throughout the region. Differences between long-term means and this year’s measures of average minimum and maximum temperature, total precipitation, and total snowfall were not related to the elevation gradient of stations. A general increase in the four-year composite moving mean for mean annual minimum temperature is evident for most of the Coop stations in the NCPN over the past 25–50 years. There is evidence for a declining trend in snowfall from the 1980s to the mid-2000s, but during many of the last few years, snowfall exceeded long-term averages. Historical records for NCPN Coop stations indicate that annual precipitation has been highly variable and that a strong unidirectional trend over the observation periods (8–84 years) is not readily evident.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Witwicki, Dana
- Date of Issue
- 2013-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- ARCH , BLCA , BRCA , CANY , CARE , CEBR , COLM , CURE , DINO , FOBU , GOSP , HOVE , NABR , NCPN , NRSS , PISP , TICA , ZION
- Keywords
- Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Climatology, NCPN Climate Monitoring, Weather