Regional Climate Perspectives
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Colin Raymond​
I am currently a postdoctoral scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. My research centers on better understanding how weather systems interact with geographical features to produce climate extremes (especially heat and precipitation) at local and regional scales. Sequences and combinations of variables which result in 'compounded' or 'correlated' societal risks figure prominently in my work. My projects tend to employ a variety of approaches, ranging from analysis of observational data to validation of global climate models and custom runs of regional climate models. My interests also include producing and communicating climate information such that it is maximally useful for decision-making, through contributions to impacts assessments, policies, and educational and outreach activities.

Current CV


JPL profile page
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Major Projects
-Co-lead author of a study to enhance subseasonal precipitation forecast skillfulness over the western U.S. (with Agniv Sengupta, Duane Waliser, Bin Guan, Peter Gibson, Mike DeFlorio, and others). In preparation.

-Lead author of a global overview of extreme humid heat patterns and mechanisms (with Erich Fischer, Stephan Fueglistaler, Radley Horton, Casey Ivanovich, Tom Matthews, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, and Yi Zhang). In preparation.

-Lead author of a perspective article stemming from the recent "Workshop on Correlated Extremes", focusing on the interlocking physical and societal challenges related to understanding and mitigating the impacts of complex extreme events. Published as
Raymond, C., Horton, R. M., Zscheischler, J., Martius, O., AghaKouchak, A., Balch, J., Bowen, S. G., Camargo, S. J., Hess, J., Kornhuber, K., Oppenheimer, M., Ruane, A. C., Wahl, T., and White, K. (2020). Understanding and managing connected extreme events. Nat. Clim. Change. ​https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0790-4.

-Lead author of an assessment of the highest global heat-humidity combinations in the observational record, in which we found that existing projections of global maxima need significant upward revision (with Tom Matthews and Radley Horton). Published as 
Raymond, C., Matthews, T. K., and Horton, R. M. (2020). The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance. Sci. Adv., 6 (19). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw1838. 

-Lead author of a quantification of the moderation of extreme heat along the eastern-US coastline, and of the effect of model biases relating to this moderation on projections of future extreme heat. Published as
Raymond, C., and Mankin, J. S. (2019). Assessing present and future coastal moderation of extreme heat in the Eastern United States. Environ. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab495d.

-Lead chapter author of a review of the meteorology and impacts of extreme heat for an impacts- and policy-oriented audience. Published as

Raymond, C., Coumou, D., Foreman, T., King, A., Kornhuber, K., Lesk, C., Mora, C., Perkins-Kirkpatrick, S., Russo, S., and Vijverberg, S. (2019). Projections and hazards of future extreme heat. In The Oxford Handbook of Planning for Climate Change Hazards [W. T. Pfeffer, J. B. Smith, and K. L. Ebi, Eds.]. Oxford Univ. Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190455811.013.59.

-Lead author of an analysis of patterns and mechanisms contributing to extremes of wet-bulb temperature in different regions of the United States. Published as
Raymond, C., Singh, D., and Horton, R. M. (2017). Spatiotemporal patterns and synoptics of extreme wet-bulb temperature in the contiguous United States. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 122. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017jd027140

Minor Projects
-Author of a decomposition of US heat-stress projections according to population exposure and regional vulnerabilities (with Sourav Mukherjee, Ashok Mishra, and Michael Mann). Submitted.

-Author of a perspective article on the importance of humidity in understanding the flow of energy through the climate system (with Tom Matthews, Michael Byrne, Radley Horton, Conor Murphy, Roger Pielke Sr., Peter Thorne, and Robert Wilby). Submitted.

-Author of a study of moose habitat selection in the Northeast U.S. as a function of temperature, and implications for future population size and spatial distribution (with Claire Teitelbaum, Ethan Coffel, Jane Foster, Jacqui Frairi, Joseph Hinton, Radley Horton, David Kramer, Corey Lesk, Alexej Sirén, David Wattles, Kathy Zeller, and Toni Lyn Morelli). 
In revision.

-Author of a climatology and projection analysis of atmospheric rivers in the greater Middle East region. Published as
Massoud, E., Massoud, T., Guan, B., Sengupta, A., Espinoza, V., De Luna, M., Raymond, C., and Waliser, D. (2020). Atmospheric rivers and precipitation in the Middle East and North Africa. Water. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12102863.


-Author of a review of concepts and methodologies for studying compound extreme events in the climate system. Published as
Zscheischler, J., Martius, O., Westra, S., Bevacqua, E., Raymond, C., Horton, R. M., van den Hurk, B., AghaKouchak, A., Jézéquel, A., Mahecha, M. D., Maraun, D., Ramos, A. M., Ridder, N., Thiery, W., and Vignotto, E. (2020). A typology of compound weather and climate events. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0060-z.

-Author of a comprehensive review of the meteorology and impacts of extreme heat (with Radley Horton, Justin Mankin, Corey Lesk, and Ethan Coffel). Published as

Horton, R. M., Mankin, J. S., Lesk, C., Coffel, E., and Raymond, C. (2016). A review of recent advances in research on extreme heat events. Curr. Clim. Change Rep., 2, 
242-259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-016-0042-x

Interdisciplinary Activities
-Co-lead of the Risk KAN Compound Events working group (~150 members), with responsibilities including initiating and hosting monthly webinars beginning in April 2020.

-Primary organizer of the "Workshop on Correlated Extremes", a ~175-person event held at Columbia University in May 2019. Our goal was to weave together multiple physical- and social-science perspectives on correlated climate extremes -- an emerging topic spanning meteorology, climatology, natural hazards, and policy/finance -- and to help build research networks and shape research directions in this area. More information is available at our website. Recordings of all talks are available on Youtube.

-Session co-chair of "Correlated climate extremes: drivers, mechanisms, and risks" session at AGU 2020 and 2019.

-Session co-chair of "Extreme heat events: processes, impacts, and adaptation" session at EGU 2019.
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Research Highlights
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  • About This Site