Climate monitoring in the Mediterranean Coast Network 2015: Channel Islands National Park
Tercek MT, Rudolph R, Ostermann-Kelm S. 2016. Climate monitoring in the Mediterranean Coast Network 2015: Channel Islands National Park. Natural Resource Report. NPS/MEDN/NRR—2016/1313. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report details the climate (temperature, precipitation, and drought) of Channel Islands National Park (NP) during 2015. Gridded maps are used to present broad-brush conditions across the region for each month. This regional presentation is compared to detailed data from Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) and manual, ranger-managed weather stations. Prior to analysis, a set of data quality control checks were performed by the authors in accordance with a National Park Service (NPS) protocol (Rocky Mountain Climate Working Group 2010). The region entered into drought conditions in April 2012 and became progressively drier throughout 2013 and 2014. By the end of 2014, Channel Islands National Park was classified as “D4 - Exceptional Drought” by the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is the most severe classification on this scale, and it retained this status through the end of 2015. El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) entered an El Niño phase in the first quarter of 2015, and sea surface temperatures remained above average for the rest of the year. Normally, La Niña conditions produce drier conditions in southern California while El Niño produces wetter conditions. The drought gripping southern California did not materially slacken during 2015. With the exception of June and July, every month during 2015 had below average precipitation. Precipitation during June ranged from 0.18 inches on Anacapa Island to 0.76 inches on Santa Cruz Island. During July, precipitation totals ranged from 0.14 inches on Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands to 0.26 inches on Santa Barbara Island. Normal summer precipitation totals are quite low on the islands, so the PRISM estimates for these months were > 400% average. According to PRISM, May and December had near to below average temperatures, while the rest of 2015 had temperatures that were significantly warmer than average. February, March, September, and October were notably warm, with temperatures > 6 degrees above the 1981 – 2010 average throughout most of the island. Readers can download the data used in this report and make custom climate graphs and tables by visiting www.ClimateAnalyzer.org.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Tercek, Michael; Rudolph, Rocky; Ostermann-Kelm, Stacey
- Date of Issue
- 2016-09
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- CHIS , MEDN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Anacapa Island, climate, drought, El Niño, El Niño – Southern Oscillation, ENSO, La Niña, MEDN Weather Monitor, Monitoring, Parameter-elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model, precipitation, PRISM, RAWS, Remote Automated Weather Station, San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara Island, Santa Cruz Island, Santa Rosa Island, temperature, Weather
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Weather and Climate | Weather and Climate