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high latitudes (from 35 degrees to 70 degrees North). Although Pacific-based indexes are <br />more ‘intuitive’ for Colorado in that most of the ‘weather’ that effects arrives from areas <br />of Pacific origin. It is important to examine large-scale variability in the Atlantic as <br />weather in this region of the Northern Hemisphere can act to influence the storms that <br />arrive from Pacific regions, especially if the departures are strong. <br />Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO): <br />This index is similar in nature to that of <br />the PDO in that it is a large-scale departure of SST across the northern and southern <br />Atlantic Oceans. Recent research has touched upon large-scale departures of <br />precipitation anomalies in various ‘phases’ of the AMO merged with the PDO. Thus, this <br />is one variable that will be included. <br />Preliminary Results <br />The summary of the results will be focused on a basin-by-basin basis as outlined <br />in the Introduction section. For each Water Division and in the applicable area, the <br />District-level findings will first present the basin-average precipitation correlations for <br />the various seasonal periods (December-March, April-June and July-September <br />precipitation periods) the seasonal temperature correlations (performed on a Division- <br />wise basis) and the correlations with seasonal (April-September) runoff followed by the <br />multi-year (2-year) relationships. <br />In the Colorado/Yampa-White River basins, the division of the basins was not <br />done specifically at the District level but were ‘naturally’ divided by sub-basins <br />according to geography and acted as a natural starting point for these analyses. The <br />determination of which sub-basins would be analyzed was determined through a <br />combination of coordination with professionals who are knowledgeable of water supply <br />systems and operations in these areas. <br />As noted in the section above, many of these computed relationships are available <br />if only both the HCI and precipitation/streamflow data are available. Both sets of data <br />are limited in terms of their time frame with the HCI variables limited to the 1950 and <br />later thus limiting this analysis to ~55 years of data. In other sections of this report, <br />naturalized streamflow was the limiting data factor as the computation of this variable is <br />complex given the system of man-made inflow/outflows that are present. This limiting <br />factor was most notable in the daily naturalized streamflow calculations which are quite <br />cumbersome and the State should be commended for the current set of data that does <br />exist. <br />As the reader proceeds through the report one will find some range of variability <br />in the HCI impacts through the various Divisions and even across District. Much <br />attention has been given to the ENSO phenomenon and its impacts on climatic variability <br />across the Western US and the world for that matter. ENSO does show up as a relevant <br />variable on the water supply variables in the state however, there are other factors <br />including those measured in the Atlantic that offer insight to the season and multi- <br />6 <br />