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Office of the Texas State Climatologist

The Office of the Texas State Climatologist (OSC) is housed in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University. The OSC serves as a clearinghouse for climate information for the state of Texas. The OSC issues regular climate updates and conducts research on climate monitoring and climate prediction in Texas and the southern U.S.

Currently active OSC research projects include a study of the local and regional causes of summertime drought in Texas, an assessment of meteorological conditions that lead to high levels of air pollution in eastern Texas, the development of tools to better monitor rapidly-changing drought conditions at the county scale, the production of a decade-by-decade climate atlas for Texas, and an investigation of decade-scale historical variations in climate in Texas and New Mexico.

State Climate Offices are an integral component of the National Climate Service Partnership, which also includes NOAA's National Climatic Data Center and six Regional Climate Centers (RCCs).  State climate offices recognized by the American Association of State Climatologists (AASC) work closely with one another, and with the regional and national counterparts, to provide climate data and services at the local level.  Specifically, AASC recognized state climate offices (or ARSCOs) provide one or more of the following services:

1) Coordinate and collect weather observations for the purpose of climate monitoring; 2) Summarize and disseminate weather and climate information to the user community; 3) Demonstrate to the user community the value of climate information in the decision making process; 4) Perform climate impact assessments and weather event evaluations; 5) Conduct climate research, diagnosis, and projections.

The Office of the Texas State Climatologist is recognized by the AASC.

Phone: (979) 845-5044

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