About Maps
The maps section is designed to give a spacial representation of data. Maps have been created for ensemble forecasts, seasonal water supply forecasts and verification, and climate change scenarios location. The ensemble forecasts map encompasses the entire United States with the River Forecast Centers around the US participating in the creation of ensemble forecasts. Seasonal water supply forecasts are created for River Forecast Centers in the Western United States where information about the supply of water is in great demand. Currently, climate change scenarios are being created in Western River Forecasts Centers for testing.
Each map has a corresponding legend to represent the information. The maps all have panning and zooming capabilities to allow for easier viewing of the point locations and data. All map types also have scroll over capabilities that display the location id and relevent information about the point on the map. By clicking on the points, the site will be redirected to give more detailed information.
Ensemble Forecasts Map
The outlook for streamflow over the current month or one of the next two months is based on the
Ensemble Streamflow Prediction system. This system combines information about current soil
moisture and snow pack with forecasts for weather and climate to generate forecasts for
streamflow in future months. The outlook is essentially a predictor for the USGS water watch
(http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/) which
assesses current streamflow at USGS gauges around the country. Ensemble forecasts for each
point are available by clicking on the point. Hovering over points diplays the location id and
percent of mean or median.
Seasonal Water Supply Map
The National Weather Service issues forecasts for seasonal snow melt streamflow volumes in the
western US. Forecasts are typically issued monthly between January and July. They combine
information from current mountain snow pack states with soil moisture and weather and water
forecasts through a hydrologic and snow modeling system at River Forecast Centers. Forecasts are
coordinated with other agencies in many locations including the Natural Resources Conservation
Service and California Department of Water Resources. Individual forecasts are accessible by
clicking on the points. Hovering over points displays the location id and percent of mean or
median.
Seasonal Water Supply Verification Map
Verification is becoming an increasingly demanded product from users of forecasts. The seasonal
water supply verification map gives a spacial representation of the information from the
verification section. The map uses the official coordinated NWS forecast value for evaluating
statistics. Individual location statistic graphs are accessible by clicking on the points.
Hovering over points displays the location id and statistic value.