Weather

Remote automated weather station (RAWS) at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

NPS

Real-time weather observations are essential for safety officers and resource managers to understand how conditions at their park may be affecting visitor safety, fire risk, air quality, drought, phenology, or any number of other factors.

Long-term Monitoring

We maintain and monitor several Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) strategically located to address gaps in lake-affected and island locations at Great Lakes parks. These RAWS units collect observations of air temperature, precipitation, snow depth, solar radiation, barometric pressure, and forest fuel conditions and send them via satellite to the National Interagency Fire Center. Our data are incorporated into the Weather Information Management System—including the National Fire Danger Rating System—and the Wildland Fire Application Information Portal (wildfire.gov), among other places.

NPS Climate Change Response Program (CCRP)

In addition to our long-term monitoring work, the NPS CCRP provides training and dozens of resources for understanding how a changing climate affects parks. Explore their website at Climate Change (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Monitored at:

• Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Learn More

Resource briefs provide a one- or two-page overview of the latest findings and what they mean. Monitoring reports are in-depth technical reports that include data analyses and possibly management recommendations.

Resource Briefs

Source: NPS DataStore Saved Search 386. To search for additional information, visit the NPS DataStore.

Monitoring Reports

Source: NPS DataStore Saved Search 407. To search for additional information, visit the NPS DataStore.

Weather and Climate Reports for the Great Lakes Region

Source: NPS DataStore Saved Search 5757 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the NPS DataStore.

Network Park Reports From the NPS CCRP

Reports and other materials prepared by the NPS Climate Change Response Program (CCRP) for Great Lakes Network parks. You can learn more at Understand the Science - Climate Change (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Source: NPS DataStore Saved Search 5694 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the NPS DataStore.