The Missouri River: A Story of Two Basins

The Missouri River is unusual because of its two main source regions, one in the high headwaters and one close to the mouth of the river.  In this talk, I report the results of research which explored the hydroclimatology of the basin to better understand the climatic controls on the two parts of the basin, the contribution of the snowmelt-driven streamflow to total Missouri River flow, and the nature of droughts in the instrumental record.  I will also discuss the first comprehensive set of streamflow reconstructions for the upper Missouri River, and the Turn-of-the-21^st Century drought in a 1200-year context.