Wet Winter Changes Drought Outlook

About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of the wet winter of 2022-2023 on drought outlooks in Northern Arizona, featuring insights from meteorologist Brian Klimowski.

Northern Arizona’s mountains and topography have a huge impact on the weather, making forecasts challenging. The winter of 2022 - '23 was no exception, and surprised locals and meteorologists alike with record precipitation and snow in many locations. “This spring we had a very deep snowpack, one for the books,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist in Charge Brian Klimowski, Ph.D. “This was the longest we’ve ever had 10 inches of snow on the ground in the Flagstaff area in history.” In addition, Babbitt Lake overflowed its banks, a lake that can be dry for years. On Discovery with Babbitt Ranches, hear from Klimowski about the complexity of the area and how weather forecasting has expanded to include predicting impacts on communities and highways in an effort to keep people safe.

People in this episode

Guest: Brian Klimowski Ph D

Topics covered

• weather
• drought
• precipitation
• snowpack
• forecasting

Keywords

• Northern Arizona
• Babbitt Lake
• National Weather Service
• Flagstaff

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Northern Arizona’s, Flagstaff, Babbitt Lake

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