National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Back-to-Back Pacific Storms to Impact the West Coast; Heavy Snow in the Central Appalachians

Back-to-back powerful Pacific storm systems to impact the Pacific Northwest and northern California through the end of this week with heavy rain, flooding, strong winds, and higher elevation mountain snow. A strong, long-duration atmospheric river will accompany the Pacific storms, bringing excessive rainfall and flash flooding to southwest Oregon and northwest California through the week. Read More >

PEAC Research


A major focus of ongoing applied research at PEAC is the investigation of statistical correlations between ENSO and sea level. Seasonal sea level forecasts, discussion and verification are issued every 3 months in the Pacific ENSO Update newsletter.

Statistical studies on regional climatology and the ENSO cycle are underway at the University of Guam (UOG) and the University of Hawaii (UH). This cooperative research activity is being led by the Water and Environmental Research Institute (WERI) of the UOG, through a sub-grant from PEAC. The studies aim to develop ENSO-related impact criteria for the Islands, through examination of:

  • Historical floods and droughts, their causes, impacts on agriculture, and other information concerning water resources in each regional area;
  • The pattern of severe weather phenomena such as hurricanes and typhoons in each regional area;
  • The distribution of commercially important fish species within each regional area, in cooperation with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service; and
  • Relationships with the ENSO cycle, with an aim for developing predictive forecasts of 6 - 18 month lead times for the region.

Publications

The following papers are related to ongoing PEAC research and available for download:

PEAC & Hazards Mitigation

ENSO & Recent High Sea Levels

Sea Level Extremes and GEV

Seasonal Sea-level Forecasts

ENSO & Sea-level Variability

ENSO & Rainfall Variability

ENSO & Climate Change

Other