Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder

Judith Perlwitz

Research Interests

I am a research scientist at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratories (Physical Sciences Laboratory, PSL) in Boulder, Colorado. I am a member of PSL’s Attribution and Predictability Assessments Team which seeks to understand the physical factors that cause observed regional and seasonal climate trends, and high-impact weather and climate events. We place a special emphasis on understanding the large-scale drivers that influence local and regional extreme events such as floods, droughts, and heat waves.

Current Research

  • Understanding the role of stratospheric processes in predicting ENSO-NAO connections on subseasonal time scale
  • Development of a probabilistic  approach to multivariate ENSO monitoring
  • Understanding the faces of ENSO teleconnections


El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with warming of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which can significantly influence weather patterns, ocean conditions, and marine fisheries worldwide. Image: NOAA

Honors and Awards

  • American Meteorological Society, Fellow 2016

View Publications

  • Sun, LT; Perlwitz, J; Richter, JH; Hoerling, MP; Hurrell, JW. (Nov 2020). Attribution of NAO Predictive Skill Beyond 2 Weeks in Boreal Winter. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS , 47(22). 10.1029/2020GL090451
  • Lawrence ZD; Perlwitz J; Butler AH; Manney GL; Newman PA; Lee SH; Nash ER. (Nov 2020). The Remarkably Strong Arctic Stratospheric Polar Vortex of Winter 2020: Links to Record-Breaking Arctic Oscillation and Ozone Loss. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres , 125(22). 10.1029/2020JD033271