Michael Crimmins

Professor & Extension Specialist - Climate Science, Department of Environmental Science

Links

Dr. Crimmins is on the faculty of the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona and is a Climate Science Extension Specialist for Arizona Cooperative Extension. In this position he provides climate science support to resource managers across Arizona by assessing information needs, synthesizing and transferring relevant research results, and conducting applied research projects. His extension and research work supports resource management across multiple sectors including rangelands, forests/wildfire, and water resources as well as informing policy and decision makers. This work aims to support managers by increasing climate science literacy as well as developing strategies to adapt to a changing climate. He also serves as a drought monitoring expert on the Arizona Governor’s Drought Task Force and has worked with counties across Arizona to implement drought preparedness and impact monitoring plans.

Publications

Greene, Christina, and Michael A. Crimmins. Experiences With Drought and the Livestock Forage Disaster Program in Arizona. Climate Assessment for the Southwest, 2025, https://doi.org/10.2458/climas/SHMM4316.

Crimmins, Michael A., et al. “Burn Period: A Use-Inspired Metric to Track Wildfire Risk across Arizona and New Mexico in the Southwest United States”. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, vol. 63, no. 12, Nov. 2024, pp. 1559–1568.

Frisvold, George B., et al. “Demand for Information for Wildland Fire Management”. Atmosphere, vol. 15, no. 11, Oct. 2024, p. 1364.

Ferguson, Daniel B., et al. “How Are Weather and Climate Products and Decision Support Systems Used in Wildland Fire Decision-Making in the U.S. Southwest?”. Weather, Climate, and Society, vol. 16, no. 4, Sept. 2024, pp. 789–802.

Greene, Christina, and M. Crimmins. Perceptions and Experiences With Drought and the Livestock Forage Disaster Program in Arizona. University of Arizona, 2024.

McKellar, Trevor T., et al. “Defining the Multiscalar Index Timescale—Soil Water Depth Continuum for the Southwestern United States”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, vol. 128, no. 23, Nov. 2023.

Hoy, Dharma, et al. “Data Aggregation, ML Ready Datasets, and an API: Leveraging Diverse Data to Create Enhanced Characterizations of Monsoon Flood Risk”. Frontiers in Climate, vol. 5, June 2023.

Meadow, Alison, et al. Climate Profile for the Quad Cities Region of Arizona. Feb. 2023.

Guido, Zack, et al. Public Engagement on Weather and Climate With a Monsoon Fantasy Forecasting Game. Jan. 2023, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0003.1.

Guido, Zack, et al. “Public Engagement on Weather and Climate With a Monsoon Fantasy Forecasting Game”. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, vol. 104, no. 1, Dec. 2022, pp. E249–E256.

Greene, Christina, et al. Using Scale and Human Agency to Frame ranchers’ Discussions about Socio-Ecological Change and Resilience. Dec. 2022, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.11.001.

Crimmins, Michael, et al. Guide to Southwest U.S. Station Climate Summaries. Aug. 2022.

Crimmins, Michael A. Large-Scale Citizen Science Programs Can Support Ecological and Climate Change Assessments. June 2022, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac72b7.

Walsh, Kathryn Bills, et al. What Does Resilience Mean to Ranchers. USDA, 2022.

McMahan, Ben, et al. “Curating and Visualizing Dense Networks of Monsoon Precipitation Data: Integrating Computer Science Into Forward Looking Climate Services Development”. Frontiers in Climate, vol. 3, Mar. 2021.

Khatri-Chhetri, Pratima, et al. “Assessing Vegetation Response to Multi-Scalar Drought across the Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan Deserts and Apache Highlands in the Southwest United States”. Remote Sensing, vol. 13, no. 6, Feb. 2021, p. 1103.

Crimmins, Michael A., et al. “Tracking Precipitation Patterns across a Western U.S. Metropolitan Area Using Volunteer Observers: <scp>RainLog< Scp>.Org”. International Journal of Climatology, vol. 41, no. 8, Jan. 2021, pp. 4201–4214.

Crimmins, M. Climate Change Made Arizona’s Heat Wave Worse. And It won’t Be the Last One. 2021.

Crimmins, M. NOAA Releases 1991-2020 Climate Normals Update. Arizona Rangelands - Quarterly Newsletter, 2021.

Crimmins, M., and T. Crimmins. The Ebb and Flow of Desert Rains and Blooms. Vermillion Flycatcher, 2021.

Uhlman, Kristine, et al. “Assessing the Vulnerability of an Aquifer to Climate Variability through Community Participation in Arivaca, Arizona”. Journal of Contemporary Water Research &Amp; Education, vol. 170, no. 1, Oct. 2020, pp. 2–18.

Brischke, A., et al. Financial Options for Livestock Producers During Natural Disasters. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Bulletin, 2020.

Weiss, J., et al. La Niña 2020-2021: An Overview of What It Might Mean for Arizona. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, 2020.

Brischke, A., et al. Monitoring Drought in Arizona. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Bulletin, 2020.

Brischke, A., et al. The U.S. Drought Monitor. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Bulletin, 2020.

Projects

Name	Project type	Project Dates
Weather and climate information for Southwest wildfire management	Research	2021
The Lower San Pedro Conservation Collaborative: Stakeholder Engagement on Climate and Environmental Vulnerability	Research	2021
USDA Livestock Forage Disaster Program and Ranching in the Southwest U.S.	Research	2020
Visualization and Analysis Tools for the North American Monsoon - Integrating Citizen Science Data and Observations	Research	2018
Developing Integrated Heat Health Information for Long-term Resilience and Early Warning	Outreach	2018