History of the Arizona State Climate Office

On March 20, 1973, Robert White, Weather Bureau Chief and first Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sent a letter to Governor Williams notifying him that NOAA was terminating the Federal State Climatology Program. Up to that point, a National Weather Service Climatologist performed the role. Paul C. Kangieser of the National Weather Service Phoenix Office was the last National Weather Service Climatologist for Arizona.

On April 6, 1973, Governor Williams sent a letter to President Schwada at ASU asking that the State Climatologist be housed at Arizona State University. President Schwada accepted this request on May 9, 1973. The Arizona Board of Regents approved the office in September 1973. Governor Williams appointed Robert Durrenberger from ASU Department of Geography as the first Arizona State Climatologist on July 25, 1974. Successive appointed Arizona State Climatologists were Anthony Brazel (1979-1999), Russell Vose (1999-2001), Andrew Ellis (2001-2007), and Nancy Selover (2007-2021).

Appointed as the Arizona State Climatologist in 2021, Erinanne Saffell swore a loyalty oath to serve and support the state of Arizona on July 22, 2021. She was confirmed by the Arizona Senate on April 5, 2022. The Arizona State Climate Office is the recognized State Climate Office for the State of Arizona (ARSCO) per official agreement with the National Centers for Environmental Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and with Arizona State University. The State Climate Office is funded in service by Arizona State University, the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.

Arizona State Climatologists

Erinanne Saffell, 2021-present

Nancy Selover, 2007-2021

Andrew Ellis, 2001-2007

Russell Vose, 1999-2001

Anthony Brazel, 1979-1999

Robert Durrenberger, 1974-1979