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To evaluate climate variation, weather data was compiled from 48 long-term weather stations across the Mojave Desert. The stations are in western Arizona, eastern California, southern Nevada, and southwest Utah. The influence of climate on vegetation in the Mojave Desert is discussed by Rowlands (1995). Huning (1978) describes the characteristic weather patterns effecting desert climate. The Climate Data The primary data set consists of about 1.2 and 1.8 million daily observations of precipitation and temperature, respectively. These data were collected mainly at weather stations staffed by volunteers (NOAA, 1986). Some of the raw data were purchased in electronic form from EarthInfo, Inc. who obtained it from the National Climate Data Center (NCDC), Asheville, North Carolina. These data do not contain the entire record of a particular station, as the available electronic record typically begins in 1948. To evaluate climate variation, the longest possible record is necessary. Thus, we obtained from the NCDC the complete National Weather Service reports on microfiche for the four-state region of the Mojave Desert. These data were entered into the computer manually, producing a record of precipitation beginning in 1892. |