Climate Enabling Conditions and Drivers of the Western Oregon Wildfires of 2020

Climatologists John Abatzoglou, David Rupp, and Larry O’Neill break down the forces that enabled Oregon’s historic fires in September 2020 John Abatzoglou, David Rupp, and Larry O’Neill Over half an inch of rain fell over Salem, Oregon, and much of western Oregon, on September 18. In most years this ordinary rainfall event would not have…

Historic Droughts and Fires: A Recap of the 2020 Water Year in Oregon and Washington and the 2021 Outlook

The year 2020 has been exceptional in many ways, and that extends to the water year (1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020). On October 28 and 29, scientists, resource managers, and planners convened virtually for the Water Year 2020 Recap and 2021 Outlook meeting. This highly collaborative event was sponsored by the National Integrated…

Recruiting Stakeholders to Improve Drought-Impact Indicators in the Northwest

CIRC scientists are seeking natural resource management, tourism, and recreation stakeholders for a new project to develop drought-impact indicators Bart Nijssen, John Abatzoglou, and Katherine Hegewisch If you are interested in participating in the below project, please contact one of us for more information: Bart Nijssen (nijssen@uw.edu), John Abatzoglou (jabatzoglou@ucmerced.edu), or Katherine Hegewisch (khegewisch@ucmerced.edu). Regular…

Recent Transitions at CIRC

Changes are afoot at CIRC. August brought several transitions for our team. Denise Lach, one of CIRC’s long-time leaders, became Professor Emerita at Oregon State University. After years of pioneering strategies for community-engaged science, her retirement is well deserved, and we hope that she is catching lots of big fish. In August, we also said…

Irrigated Agriculture, Snowmelt, and Climate Change

Wherein we review a study on projected climate impacts to irrigated agriculture and the CIRCulator’s Managing Editor says goodbye. It is now generally acknowledged that warming tied to human-induced climate change is going to hit our species where it will most assuredly count: in the fields that produce our foods, potentially impacting such tabletop essentials…

Oregon is in Drought—Here’s How We Got There

Guest blogger Oregon State Climatologist Larry O’Neill describes Oregon’s drought.