The influence of climate modes on herbage production in the central Great Plains. Goodin, Douglas^*,1, Henebry, Geoffrey², Schacht, Walter², ¹ Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA² University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

ABSTRACT- The continental climate of the Great Plains is characterized by high interannual variability in growing season weather. Thus, local averages of temperature and precipitation are not very helpful for predicting expected herbage production. To improve predictions of herbage production at the beginning of the growing season, we investigated links between indices of major climate modes - ENSO, NAO, PDO, NP - and indicators of growing season weather. We examined the temperature and precipitation records from a network of weather stations across Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota and partitioned these stations into one of four airstream regions. We found significant influences of ENSO, NAO, PDO, and NP on spring precipitation and temperature, though the effects varied in strength and sign. We present how some of these linkages may be able to aid forecasting of herbage production.

KEY WORDS: Climate, Atmospheric teleconnections, Weather, Herbage production