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Agenda Meeting Summary WGA-NOAA MOU |
The Pacific Northwest Weather and Climate Outlook Forum was the first in a series of regionally-focused summits hosted by WGA and NOAA to bring together leading practitioners and policy makers to address weather and climate risk. Government agencies and the private sector have a long history of responding to weather and climate uncertainty. However, increased population and development, coupled with extreme weather events and long-term climate trends, have exposed significant vulnerabilities that must be addressed. Preparing for weather and climate risk is an emerging and rapidly evolving field; this forum served to connect science with decision-making in new and sustainable ways in order to protect our economy and quality of life.
Goals of the Forum:
- Raise awareness among policy makers of the connections between weather and climate and the economy and quality of life in the Pacific Northwest.
- Share current weather and climate forecasts, with a focus on extreme events, in the context of upcoming management decisions.
- Identify specific actions to provide tools, resources, and capacity that states and other resource managers need to respond to weather and climate events.
- Develop a model for Western states to partner with NOAA and other federal agencies in sharing and responding to weather and climate information.
Tuesday, April 3
Welcome
- The Honorable Christine Gregoire, Governor of Washington
- Dr. Robert Detrick, Assistant Administrator, NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
What’s at Stake? How Extreme Weather and Climate Affect the Pacific Northwest
Moderator: Governor Christine Gregoire
- Mark Reis, Managing Director, Sea-Tac International Airport
- Jim Yost, Council Member (ID), Northwest Power and Conservation Council
- Andrew Johnsen, AVP State Govt. Affairs, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
- Paul Lumley, Executive Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
- Mike Kreidler, Commissioner, Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner
Case study: Great Coastal Gale of 2007
- Dr. Brad Colman, NOAA National Weather Service, Seattle
- Liz Anderson, Grays Harbor PUD
- Wendy Willis, National Policy Consensus Center, Portland State University
Lunch and Keynote
- John Tubbs, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, US Department of the Interior
Weather and Climate Extremes: A National View and Regional Outlook
Moderator: Dr. Robert Detrick
- A National View: Dr. Roger Pulwarty, NOAA
- Seasonal Forecast: Ed O’Lenic, NOAA NWS Climate Prediction Center
- Streamflow Forecast: Harold Opitz, NOAA NWS Northwest River Forecast Center
An Inventory of Regional Climate Information Assets
- Dr. Kelly Redmond, Western Regional Climate Center/Desert Research Institute
- Dr. Phil Mote, Oregon Climate Change Research Institute/Oregon State University/ Climate Impacts Research Consortium
- Dr. Gus Bisbal, Northwest Climate Science Center
- Dr. Stephen Zylstra, USFWS Landscape Conservation Cooperatives
- Dr. Nate Mantua, University of Washington Climate Impacts Group
Management Responses across Sectors and Boundaries
- State Adaptation Plan: Richard Whitman, Natural Resources Advisor to the Governor of Oregon
- Water Supply & Water Quality: Paul Fleming, Seattle Public Utilities
- Fisheries: Dr. John Stein, NOAA NMFS, Northwest Fisheries Science Center
- Coastal Communities: Patty Snow, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development
Wednesday, April 4
Raising Awareness of Extreme Events
- Emergency Management and Communication: Jim Mullen, Director of Emergency Management, Washington
- Cal-Adapt: A Tool for Climate Communications: Julia Levin, Deputy Secretary for Climate Change, California Resources Agency
- Soliciting citizen photographers to document sea level rise and storm surge: W. Spencer Reeder, Senior Manager, Cascadia Consulting Group
Improving Coordination and Response
- Alaska Climate Change Sub-Cabinet and Executive Roundtable: Larry Hartig, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
- Howard Hanson Dam: Ted Buehner, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, NOAA NWS - Seattle/Tacoma
- Transboundary Coordination: Thomas White, Manager for Science and Adaptation, Climate Action Secretariat, British Columbia Ministry of the Environment
Developing Early Warning Systems
- Water Supply and Early Warning Needs: Tony Willardson, Executive Director, Western States Water Council
- National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS): Dr. Roger Pulwarty, Director for NIDIS, NOAA
- Atmospheric Rivers and Observing Networks: Dr. Marty Ralph, Chief, Water Cycle Branch, Physical Sciences, NOAA
Next Steps
- Ted Sturdevant, Director, Department of Ecology, Washington
- Dr. Roger Pulwarty, NOAA
- Tom Iseman, WGA