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Data <br />Precipitation <br />The precipitation data that was utilized in this analysis was acquired from the <br />National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — National Climatic Data Center <br />(NOAA -NCDC) via a third -party vendor — EarthSat Incorporated. For this variable, a <br />majority of the data is derived from National Weather Service Cooperative (COOP) <br />observers. The COOP network of primarily volunteer observers are trained by the NWS <br />with approved observation equipment and are an important source of stable, long -term <br />observations in many portions of the country. A handful of other stations were official <br />NWS `first- order' observations where the NWS is directly responsible for the collection <br />and reporting of daily observations. <br />The basin average precipitation for a given area in this study was calculated in the <br />following manner: <br />1) All precipitation stations were segmented by the individual sub - basins in which <br />they reside. <br />2) The precipitation values for each relevant period (ex: Dec. -Mar. , Apr. -Jun.) were <br />summated into a multi -month total for those periods. <br />3) The percent of normal for each years' specific period was calculated for each <br />station (precipitation value /normal precip. = percent of normal) <br />4) The average of the percent of normal for each precipitation station in a basin was <br />calculated using all relevant precipitation stations in a given basin /sub - basin. <br />This method of computing basin average precipitation was used given the complex <br />topography of many of the basins and of the location of the stations themselves. This <br />technique was presented by the Oregon Climate Service as a way to arrive at a <br />statistically more accurate presentation of basin average precipitation when dealing with <br />complex terrain. <br />Temperature <br />The temperature data used in this report was also acquired from the National <br />Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration — National Climatic Data Center (NOAA- <br />NCDC) via a third -party vendor — EarthSat Incorporated. For this variable, a majority of <br />the data is derived from National Weather Service Cooperative (COOP) observers <br />outlined in the prior section on precipitation. A handful of other stations were official <br />NWS `first- order' observations where the NWS is directly responsible for the collection <br />of daily observations. The analysis of this dataset was performed through a series of <br />steps for Divisions 3 and 7: <br />1) Determine the number of excessive' high temperature days at a particular station, <br />this was employed due to the variability of observation stations with respect to <br />elevation. <br />2) Determine a number of `normal' excessively warm days at the respective stations. <br />3) Calculate the % of normal of excessively warm days in the period. <br />3 <br />