Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service South Florida / Caribbean Network

Climate is a dominant factor driving the physical and ecologic processes affecting the South Florida / Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Network (SFCN). This project was initiated to inventory past and present climate monitoring efforts in the SFCN. In this report, the authors provide the following information: • Overview of broad-scale climatic factors and zones important to SFCN park units; • Inventory of weather and climate station locations in and near SFCN park units relevant to the NPS I&M Program; • Results of an inventory of metadata on each weather station, including affiliations for weather-monitoring networks, types of measurements recorded at these stations, and information about the actual measurements (length of record, etc.); and • Initial evaluation of the adequacy of coverage for existing weather stations and recommendations for improvements in monitoring weather and climate.