Boyin Huang, NOAA NCEI, Asheville, NC, United States, Michelle L L'Heureux, NOAA/NWS/NCEP/CPC, College Park, MD, United States, Zeng-Zhen Hu, Climate Prediction Center, NCEP/NOAA, College Park, MD, United States, Vikram M Mehta, CRCES, Catonsville, MD, United States, Xungang Yin, ERT, Inc., Asheville, NC, United States; Riverside inc / NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, NC, United States and Huai-Min Zhang, NOAA Natl Climatic Data Ctr, Asheville, NC, United States