Quick Start Guide: Annual Extremes Dashboard
How to Access the Dashboard
Navigate to Dashboards and select Annual Extremes. The map will load, zoomed into a default grid cell, showing projected changes for selected extreme climate events across the Western United States.
1. Explore the Map
When the dashboard loads, the map shows projected changes for a selected climate extreme event, such as frost days, dry spells, or extreme precipitation. The map is color-coded based on the chosen climate variable, which you can select from a dropdown menu.
You can zoom or search for specific locations across the Western United States to explore projections for different regions.
2. Overview Section
The overview section automatically populates when the dashboard loads, displaying details about the current selections. This includes key timeframes such as historical, mid-century, and late-century, with data cards showing the projected range and average for the selected event and spatial unit.
The title card displays the name of the selected location, along with a summary sentence describing the current selections and scenarios.
3. Make Your Selections
In this section, you can customize the data displayed on the map and chart by selecting various options:
Climate Variables:
Choose from a variety of climate extreme events to explore. Below are the available options:
- Max Consecutive Days Precipitation <1mm/day: Max number of consecutive days with less than 1mm of precipitation. Use this to analyze prolonged dry spells.
- Max Consecutive Days Precipitation ≥1mm/day: Max number of consecutive days with precipitation greater than or equal to 1mm. This can help assess continuous wet periods.
- Frost Days: Annual count of days where the minimum temperature drops below 0°C, indicating frost conditions.
- Icing Days: Annual number of days where the maximum temperature remains below 0°C, representing freezing conditions throughout the day.
- Annual Count Precipitation ≥20mm/day: Number of days in a year when daily precipitation exceeds 20mm. Useful for assessing the frequency of heavy rainfall days.
- Annual Total Precipitation When Daily Precipitation >95th Percentile: Annual total precipitation for days when daily rainfall exceeds the 95th percentile, reflecting extreme wet events.
- Annual Max 1-day Precipitation: The highest single-day precipitation total recorded in a year.
- Annual Max 5-day Precipitation: The maximum total precipitation recorded over any five consecutive days within a year.
- Simple Precipitation Intensity Index: The annual mean precipitation on days with rainfall greater than 1mm, indicating the intensity of wet days.
Spatial Element:
You can aggregate data by various spatial units:
- County
- HUC4, HUC8, HUC10, or HUC12 (Hydrologic Unit Codes)
These options allow you to focus on different geographic scales, from large watersheds to smaller, more localized units.
GCMs (Global Climate Models):
The default ensemble averages all available climate models, but you have the option to select individual models to include or exclude from the projections. This allows for a more tailored exploration of the data.
Any changes to these settings will automatically update the map and chart to reflect the new selections.
4. View the Chart
The chart visualizes how the selected climate extreme variable changes over time, starting with data for the default grid cell or your selected spatial unit.
- Hover over the chart to see how projected changes for a particular year affect the map display.
- Switch between Metric and English units for easier interpretation.
- Adjust the y-axis to start at 0 or modify it for better visualization of small changes.
- Export the chart as a PNG or download the underlying data for further analysis.
Ensemble data includes percentile ranges (25-75% in gray, 10-90% in lighter gray) to show where most values are expected to fall, giving you a clearer sense of uncertainty and spread in the projections.