Temperature and precipitation changes in the Midwestern United States: implications for water management

Abstract

The Midwestern United States is the heartland of agriculture production, and changes in the hydro-climatology may affect both the quantity and the quality of production. Seasonal temperature and precipitation were analyzed for trends and shifts. The results indicate an increasing trend in spring temperature (6.4 °F) and summer precipitation (1.2 inches). Shifts in the variables were dominant during two periods: 1920–1930 and 1970–1990. The observed changes not only provide scientific reference for assessing the impact on water resources as a result of climate change, but also help water managers and planners in taking proactive decisions to mitigate the water stress in the region.

Keywords:

• Temperature
• precipitation
• trend
• shift
• water management
• adaptation

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their critical and constructive comments, which helped to improve this manuscript. The writers would like to thank the team in the water lab at SIU Carbondale, Devi Priya Ponugoti, Rajesh Amerineni and Sri Kavya Nukla, and Miguel Bernardez at New Mexico Tech for their valuable suggestions during the preparation of the manuscript. Climate division data for mean, maximum and minimum temperature and mean precipitation was provided by the National Climatic Data Center. The authors are grateful to Office of the Vice Chancellor at SIU Carbondale for research support.