General Approach

Potential weather/climate impacts were identified by published research in the scientific literature and by people working within the agriculture and tourism industries. These results were used in the definition and development of new variables that best capture and illustrate the impact of climate variability on the tart cherry industry, grain quality (specifically, corn), golf, and downhill skiing and snowboarding.

Historical climate data were obtained from 18 locations in the Great Lakes region including series of maximum, minimum, and daily average temperatures, liquid-equivalent precipitation, frozen precipitation, Heat Index and Wind Chill.