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~j!9:6 received daily from remote weather stations throughout Colorado's agricultural areas, processed and made avail- able to fanners, agribusinesses, researchers and any other interested parties by way of the Internet and the DTN commercial satellite communication company. The Colorado Climate Center is responsible for managing the incoming data, archiving and displaying data, and as- sessing data quality. This network has now been in existence for 10 years and has become an essential part of the state's pest management and crop disease assessment programs. 1996- oreseot Climate Monitoring. In addition to the special research projects listed above, the Colorado Climate Center has continued to actively monitor state- wide climate conditions, variations and extremes. We have continued to participate actively in the Colorado Water Availability Task Force which has been meeting routinely since 1981. Data tables that in the past appeared in "Colorado Climate" have routinely been posted on the Colorado Climate Center webpage under "Data Access" at hltD://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu As more and more data sources become available on line, more and more opportunities are appearing for improving our climate monitoring capabilities. In future issues of "Colorado Climate" we plan to review the various sources of hydroclimatic information currently being collected in Colorado. We'll discuss how to access the data and how to interpret significant climate variations and extremes. Fall 1999 Enough Already. Well, now I know why I haven't been keeping up with writing "Colorado Climate" reports. We just plain have a whole lot going on. At least we'll.have no shortage of topics to write about as we begin our new publication format this fall. Another Change at the Climate Center Tom McKee, who has served faithfully for 25 years as the Colorado State Climatogist, has begun transitional retirement here at Colorado State Univer- sity. Dr. McKee will still be involved in research, but is looking forward to spending more time with family, friends and fishing in the years ahead. Dr. Roger Pielke, Sr., was appointed by the Department of Atmospheric Science to be the new State Climatologist effective in May 1999. Dr. Pielke has been at CSU since 1982 and brings with him a strong interest in climate and climate applications. His research has focused on modelling local and regional scale atmospheric processes and investigating land surface interactions. One of Dr. Pielke's top priority as State Climatologist is to bring new vigor to the publication, "Colorado Climate" and to make this report a primary outlet for climate monitoring and research results here in Colorado. Nolan Doesken and Odie Bliss, who have both been with the Center for more than 20 years, will continue their work. You'll be hearing more from Dr. Pielke in the months ahead, as he plans to contribute many features and research perspectives to this publication. A Brief Review of Colorado Climate Conditions Since 1996 It is time to "catch up" on Colorado climate. On the next pages are summaries of the Water Years for 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. I'm sony we aren't able to go into our nonna! detail, but here is a brief review of the climate events and anomalies (significant departures from . average) which we've experienced in Colorado since the summer of 1996. More complete summaries have been publish in the annual proceedings of the American Geophysical Union, "Hydrology Days" conference proceedings. Copies are available. 71