The diversity of local impacts of a changing climate makes it challenging for state and local decision-makers to use climate information to effectively plan for resilience and to strategically identify and prioritize risk-reduction activities. The Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington web application is a compilation and curation of existing data sources for projected changes in the climate and related natural hazards in Washington state meant to address this challenge. Climate datasets in the application include downscaled climate projections of precipitation and temperature, drought, sea level rise, snowpack and streamflow simulated with hydrologic process models, and wildfire simulated with a fire and vegetation model. Changes in these climate indicators are mapped across the state and summarized to the county level.

CLIMATE MAPPING TOOL USER GUIDE

The Climate Mapping Tool was developed as part of a larger project, Biophysical Climate Risks and Economic Impacts for Washington State.

What can Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington webtool be used for?

Expected changes in the climate and climate-related natural hazards are viewable at the state-level, available as summaries at the county-level, and are accessible at multiple time periods and for multiple climate scenarios through the next century. Changes in the climate are shown in maps, graphs and tables. Along with visualizations of changes in the climate and related hazards, Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington provides important contextual information on the factors that  affect exposure and susceptibility at the local scale.

State and local decision-makers can use CMRW to help identify and prioritize risk-reduction activities and effectively plan for resilience. The webtool can inform:

• Climate communications and outreach products
• Local climate vulnerability assessments, resilience plans and action plans
• Climate resilience elements of state required plans, such as the comprehensive plan
• Climate considerations for state and federal grant applications

Changes in the climate and potential impacts can be filtered by hazard and sector and shown for multiple future scenarios and time periods as appropriate for local planning applications. For example, users interested in extreme heat and human health can select from three indicators of heat effects on human health – summer maximum temperature, days above 90°F maximum humidex and days above 65°F minimum humidex days. Whereas, users interested in extreme heat and the impacts on transportation will see a different indicator relevant to that sector — the number of hot days above 100°F. A description of the indicator, provided alongside the map, explains its relevance to the sector.

Learn more about what is included in the tool and how to use it in this blog post for the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington.

Who is Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington intended for?

• State agencies, local governments, and communities in Washington state with the need to consider changes in the climate and related hazards in planning and grant applications.
• Planners, engineers, GIS professionals, outreach specialists, and other technical staff.

How is the information in Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington customized for Washington state?

Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington is designed to meet the needs of Washingtonians by including projected changes in streamflow, snowpack, extreme precipitation, drought and wildfire; all hazards that are critical for managing the state’s natural resources and protecting residents and communities, but not commonly included in national-scale applications. For example, the tool includes specific climate indicators relevant to drought declarations in Washington state, like likelihood of snowpack drought.

Tool Features:

• Customizable and downloadable maps, graphs and tables of climate change indicators
• Raster format files, useful for GIS applications, available for most maps
•  Climate indicators summarized for each county in Washington state
• Guidance on the type of data and information useful for assessing local variation in vulnerability
• Ability to filter the climate indicators by climate hazards and sectors relevant to your purposes.

What are some limitations or cautions with using the information?

• The data in this tool is not a prediction of future conditions, rather a depiction of multiple possible future conditions.
• When multiple scenarios are available, they should be considered separately and not averaged together.
• The data in this tool should be analyzed at the county or community scale. While climate models have proven effective at describing past and future conditions, they are not equipped to describe changes for small areas. Even though the data here is down-scaled, it is best suited for community and county-scale analysis.
• All streamflow data in this application are natural flows, and therefore do not include any influence from water withdrawals and hydropower projects.
• The model median values for change should be considered along with the range in model values. For some climate indicators, the range in model output for some areas is large and for others it may be small. Regardless, the range provides important context for how certain a change may be, and should therefore be considered along with the model median.

Climate Hazards:

Click on the boxes below to explore the indicators for each climate hazard included in Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington.

Extreme Precipitation

Heavy Precipitation Magnitude (percent change)
Extreme Precipitation Magnitude (percent change)
1 inch Precipitation Days (change in days)
2 inch Precipitation Days (change in days)
3 inch Precipitation Days (change in days)

Extreme Heat

Summer Maximum Temperature (change in °F)
Hot Days (change in days)
90°F Maximum Humidex Days (change in days)
65°F Minimum Humidex Days (change in days)
Heating Degree Days (change in degree-days)
Cooling Degree Days (change in degree-days)
August Stream Temperature (°F)

Drought

Total Annual Precipitation (percent change)
Late Summer Precipitation (percent change)
Precipitation Drought (likelihood)
Warm Season Streamflow (percent change)
Summer Streamflow (percent change)
Duration of Low Streamflow (change in days)
Low Streamflow (percent change)
Streamflow Timing (ratio
Snowpack Drought (likelihood)

Flooding

Peak Streamflow (percent change)
Frequency of Peak Streamflow (return interval)

Photo credit Pierce County

Reduced Snowpack

Snowpack (percent change)
Streamflow Timing (ratio)

Sea Level Rise

Likely Sea Level Rise (ft)
High Sea Level Rise (ft)

Wildfire

High Fire Danger Days (change in days)
Wildfire Likelihood (likelihood)

Suggested Citation:

Raymond, C., M. Rogers, 2022. Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington. Prepared by the Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington, Seattle and Research Data & Computing Services, University of Idaho, Moscow.

Acknowledgements:

Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington was funded by the state of Washington and developed by the University of Washington, Climate Impacts Group in partnership with the University of Idaho, Research Data & Computing Services for web development. The content and design of the webtool were refined with feedback from Washington State agency staff, local government staff and private consultants engaged in climate resilience planning in the state.