SCENIC [ Help ]

Example

Find stations in Lake Tahoe Basin that have precipitation and minimum temperature data between Jan 1, 1930 and Dec 31, 2014.

Run Live

Step by Step instructions

Go to Station Finder
Set the form parameters:

Look at the form at the left of the page. You can see that we have several options for the area of interest. Choose "Custom Shape".
A map will appear with a rectangle over Havasu City, AZ.

Zoom out and focus the map on Lake Tahoe. From the drawing options at the top left of the map, click the polygon icon .
Point and click at each corner of your polygon. Finish by double clicking at the final point or by clicking on the first point of your polygon.

Note that the "Custom Shape" field in the form on the left of the page was updated with the longitude, latitude coordinate pairs of your polygon.

From the "Variables" drop down menu, select "Precipitation" and "Minimum Temperature".
To select multiple variables:
MAC: hold down the command (apple) button while selecting the variables.
PC: hold down the control (ctrl) button while selecting the variables.

We want our stations to have both precipitation AND minimum temperature. Select "All of the variables".

For "Start Date", enter 1930-01-01.

For "End Date", enter 2014-12-31.

We want to display stations that have data for all dates from 1930 to 2015. Select "All of the dates".

The completed form looks like this:
Submit the request by clicking "Show me stations".

Stations meeting the criteria will be displayed on the resulting map. The number of stations will depend on the size of the polygon you have drawn. This example displays two stations. Click a marker on the map or a station name in the list below the map for more information about the stations and to access data.

Example

Obtain all available temperature data for all stations in Washoe County, Nevada from 1990 to the present.

Step by Step instructions

Go to Multi-Point Products/Data Lister
Set the form parameters:

In the form on the left under "Area of Interest", choose "County".
A map will appear with the counties of Nevada outlined in blue. You can click on counties on the map until you find Washoe or you can type "Washoe" in the "County" field in the form on the left of the page and use the autofill feature.

For "Data Type", choose "Station Data".

From the "Variables" drop down menu, select "Maximum Temperature", "Minimum Temperature", "Average Temperature" and "Observation Time Temperature".
To select multiple variables:
MAC: hold down the command (apple) button while selecting the variables.
PC: hold down the control (ctrl) button while selecting the variables.

We want to list the data without summarizing. Under "Data Summary", choose "None, just get raw data".

For "Start Date", enter 1990-01-01.

For "End Date", use the default (yesterday's date; there is a lag time of on day in the database).

The completed form looks like this
Submit the request by clicking "Get Data".

Another form will appear asking you to choose your output formats
and to provide your name and email address.

You will be notified that non-summarized data is processed offline.
You should receive an email containing a link to your data and instructions on how to download the data. Please contact scenic@dri.edu if you do not hear from us within 12 hours.

Example

Find the highest temperature ever recorded in March at Winnemucca airport, NV.

Step by Step instructions

Go to Single-Point Products/Monthly Summary
Set the form parameters:

In the form on the left under "Point of Interest", choose "Station".
In the "Station ID" field, start typing "Winnemucca".
Choose "WINNEMUCCA MUNI AP, 269171" from the dropdown menu.

From the "Variable" drop down menu, select "Maximum Temperature".

For "Units", select "English".

For "Statistic", choose "Maximum" because we want to find the highest
of the maximum temperatures of the month.

For "Start Year" and "End Year", type "POR" (Period of Record).

For "Max Missing Days", type "0".
(Months with more than 0 of missing days will not be included in summary statistics)

For "Output as", choose "Values".
This will just list the values rather than compute departures from average conditions.

The completed form looks like this
Submit the request by clicking "Generate Time Series".
Interpreting the results.

For each year in the period of record of the station,
the data table shows the maximum of the maximum daily temperatures
for each month of the year. The last colum shows the maximum annual temperatures.

There are three ways to find the highest March temperature ever recorded:
1. You can plot March values and look at the graph.
2. You can look at the summary statistics table.
3. You can sort the March column of the data table in ascending order.

What is LOCA (Localized Constructed Analogs)?

Statistically downscaled CMIP5 climate projections for North America.

A word of warning

Climate projections, including downscales, are affected by multiple forms of uncertainty, such as uncertainties in climate forcings, uncertainties in how accurately the model represents the true climate system, natural variability in climate and others. Projections of future climate are not predictions or forecasts! Climate projections present ranges of possible future values of climate variables given certain assumptions. Therefore, great care must be taken when using these datasets. We have started a special LOCA page on SCENIC that will help you understand projections like LOCA and how to use/not use them.
Read more about Projections and LOCA

Example

Aim:
To investigate climate extremes relative to the thermal or hydrologic tolerances of individual species that are targets of management.
Resource management application:
Identifying where on a landscape temperature extremes are exceeded now and where they may be exceeded in the future could help prioritize where to manage for different species.
Description:
One such species is the California Spotted Owl. It is known that at temperatures above 35.2°C, the resting metabolic rate of adult California Spotted Owls increases substantially and behavioral responses to heat stress are observed.
Methods:
For each of the ten LOCA models we computed the total number of days per season (May - September, inclusive) where the daily maximum temperature exceeds 35.2 Degree Celsius. We then took the median value of the ten model results at each LOCA grid-point in California.

Figure 1: Number of days in the season (May to September 2025) where the daily maximum temperatures exceeed 35.2 Degrees Celsius.