Climate Statistics for Kentucky Based on Mesonet Observations

The Kentucky Mesonet is a great asset for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, providing a wealth of in-situ near-surface observations that is used on multiple fronts, from storm development and propagation to building a detailed climate record. A detailed climate record is essential as causality between observations and extreme weather can be identified, a great tool in an evolving climate system. The climate record being developed at the 70+ Kentucky Mesonet observation stations consists of approximately 75 indices. These products include frequency, extremes, range, duration, and trends of precipitation, droughts, and extreme temperatures. For example, calculations of Warm/Dry days Days (daily mean temperature > 75th percentile of daily mean temperature and daily mean rainfall < 25th percentile of daily precipitation sum where the percentiles are based on a climatology taken from reanalysis between 1961 and 1990) are done for monthly, seasonal, bi-annual, and annual aggregation periods. Tools will also be developed based on interactions with policymakers and stakeholders as they will be making decisions today that impact the region’s main economic sectors (e.g. water, energy, transportation, etc.). For example, infrastructure erected today will likely be in place when the climate is different than at present. We will present the list of indices and explain how they add to our understating of Kentucky’s evolving, yet distinct, climate systems (e.g. Appalachia compared to the Southern Mississippi River Valley).