Climate information needs and uses -- a state climate office perspective

The Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University has simultaneously been a user of climate data and information and also a provider and interpreter. A wealth of examples of the needs, uses and misuses of climate information comes out of our decades of experience working with a broad range of users from county commissioners in rural counties to planners and managers in small, medium and large cities. Obvious applications for climate information are found in water and power utility operations. Less obvious but often critical uses appear at many other levels include building codes, construction contracting, street and parks maintenance, forestry, and countless others. Interannual climate variability and extreme weather events pose the most immediate challenges, but planning for a future that might be different from the past elevates the concern or at least raises public interest. Basic data collection and climate monitoring underpin all of these current and potential applications.