National Weather Service Climate

NWS National Climate Services

The Climate Services Division (CSD) at NWS headquarters provides the strategic vision for climate services at NWS and oversees the NWS climate services program. It develops policy and requirements for climate prediction products and other services related to the period from week two out to one year, including seasonal forecasts and hazard assessments. The division also sets NWS field policies and procedures for climate prediction products, defines service and mission needs, solicits user feedback to evaluate new products and services, and approves final product design. The Climate Services program maintains strong ties with other countries; across NOAA lines, specifically through the NOAA Climate Office; with federal agencies; the university community; and the private sector. It encourages collaborative arrangements among the Regional Climate Centers, Regional Integrated Services & Assements (RISA) Programs, State Climatologists, NWS Weather Forecast and River Forecast Offices, and NWS Regional Headquarters to tailor climate forecasts for local users, and are stewards of the climate observing systems, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and continuity of data are maintained.

The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) is the research, operations, and production arm of climate in NWS and is a part of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. It is responsible for producing services consisting of operational prediction of climate variability, monitoring of the climate observing system and development of databases for determining current climate anomalies and trends, and analysis of the origins and linkages to the rest of the climate system. These services cover time-scales ranging from weeks to seasons, and cover land, ocean, and atmosphere extending into the stratosphere.

CPC Principal Partners

• Climate Diagnostics Center
• International Research Institute for Climate Prediction

Some Popular NWS Climate Products

• Climate Prediction
• ENSO monitoring and forecasts
• Tropical season hurricane outlooks
• Near real-time monitoring
• Drought Assessment

NWS Regional and Local Climate Services

NWS is committed to greatly increasing its presence in the production and delivery of regionally-tailored climate services. This commitment has placed a climate services program manager at each regional headquarters and, on average, a half-time climate services focal point at each WFO and RFC. These local and regional programs will be responsible for decisionmaker interaction, downscaling CPC forecasts, and stewardship of the climate observing system. Click a link below to go to a regional climate services program homepage or click here to access a map to take you to your local WFO or RFC climate services web page.

Alaska Region
Central Region
Eastern Region
Pacific Region
Southern Region
Western Region

Please click on a topic above or at left to find out more about CSD, CPC, or the Regional and Local programs.