About

Christopher Fuhrmann is the Deputy Director and Regional Climatologist at the Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC). He earned a B.A. and Ph.D. in Geography from UNC-Chapel Hill and an M.S. in Geography from the University of Georgia. His research interests are in applied and synoptic climatology, focusing on the effects of weather and climate on society and the role of large-scale circulation features on the distribution and intensity of surface weather events. He studies these relationships in the context of climate variability and change. Christopher has published articles on tornado outbreaks, heat waves, winter weather, and the linkages between climate and various aspects of society, such as agriculture and public health. He was also a co-author on the Southeast region technical report used for the 2014 U.S. National Climate Assessment.

Research topics

• Climatology
• Meteorology
• Geography
• Environmental science
• Animal science
• Physical therapy
• Medicine
• Ecology
• Atmospheric sciences
• Psychiatry

Selected publications

• Quantifying Downstream Climate Impacts of Sea Surface Temperature Patterns in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Using Clustering

  UNC Libraries · 2025-01-28

  articleOpen access

  El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases and flavors, as well as off-equatorial climate modes, strongly influence sea surface temperature (SST) patterns in the eastern tropical Pacific and downstream climate. Prior studies rely on EOFs (which characterize fractional SST variance) to diagnose climate-scale SST structures, limiting the ability to link individual ENSO flavors with downstream phenomena. Hierarchical and k-means clustering methods are used to construct Eastern Pacific patterns from the ERSST dataset spanning 1950 to 2021. Cluster analysis allows for the direct linkage of individual SST years/seasons to ENSO phase, providing insight into ENSO flavors and associated downstream impacts. In this study, four clusters are revealed, each depicting unique SST patterns influenced by ENSO and Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM) phases. A case study demonstrating the utility of the clusters was also carried out using accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins. Results showed that Eastern Pacific (EP) El Niño suppresses Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) activity, while Central Pacific (CP) La Niña enhances it. Further, EP El Niño, coupled with positive PMM, amplifies ACE. Ultimately, the methods used herein offer a cleaner analysis tool for identifying dominant SSTA patterns and employing those patterns to diagnose downstream climatic effects.

  PublisherDOI

• From Data to Action: How Urban Heat Mapping Campaigns Can Expose Vulnerabilities and Inform Local Heat Policy

  UNC Libraries · 2025-03-13

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This 90-minute virtual roundtable brought together local organizers from several Urban Heat Watch campaigns as well as representatives from NOAA and CAPA Strategies to discuss how the data and maps generated through these campaigns can be used to better understand heat-related vulnerability and inform effective heat mitigation strategies designed to capture those populations who are most vulnerable.

  PublisherDOI

• Mortality and diurnal temperature range in Virginia

  International Journal of Biometeorology · 2025-01-30 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The relationship between diurnal temperature range (DTR) and daily mortality from 2005 to 2020 is examined for seven large metropolitan areas in Virginia using distributed lag non-linear models that control for temperature and humidity. The relative risk of mortality increases for very high DTR, and there is a short lag effect of several days. High risk DTR days are rare, typically occurring less than 1% of the time at most locations. These days primarily occur in spring and are characterized by high pressure and low humidity that allow overnight temperatures to drop substantially. High DTR days are often associated with elevated respiratory and cardiovascular mortality and tend to impact the elderly. The similarity between the mortality response to high DTR and that of high temperatures alone, coupled with the lack of clear physiological underpinnings, challenges the notion that these responses are independent. The prevalent spring peak in dangerous DTR days suggests that lack of acclimatization to hot and humid conditions may impose strain on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Quantifying Downstream Climate Impacts of Sea Surface Temperature Patterns in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Using Clustering

  Climate · 2024-05-16

  articleOpen access

  El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases and flavors, as well as off-equatorial climate modes, strongly influence sea surface temperature (SST) patterns in the eastern tropical Pacific and downstream climate. Prior studies rely on EOFs (which characterize fractional SST variance) to diagnose climate-scale SST structures, limiting the ability to link individual ENSO flavors with downstream phenomena. Hierarchical and k-means clustering methods are used to construct Eastern Pacific patterns from the ERSST dataset spanning 1950 to 2021. Cluster analysis allows for the direct linkage of individual SST years/seasons to ENSO phase, providing insight into ENSO flavors and associated downstream impacts. In this study, four clusters are revealed, each depicting unique SST patterns influenced by ENSO and Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM) phases. A case study demonstrating the utility of the clusters was also carried out using accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins. Results showed that Eastern Pacific (EP) El Niño suppresses Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) activity, while Central Pacific (CP) La Niña enhances it. Further, EP El Niño, coupled with positive PMM, amplifies ACE. Ultimately, the methods used herein offer a cleaner analysis tool for identifying dominant SSTA patterns and employing those patterns to diagnose downstream climatic effects.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• From Data to Action: How Urban Heat Mapping Campaigns Can Expose Vulnerabilities and Inform Local Heat Policy

  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2024-09-12 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Extreme heat poses a major hazard in urban areas due in large part to the urban heat island. Differences in observed temperatures and associated health effects between urban and surrounding rural locations are well documented (Yadav et al. 2023; Cheval et al. 2024). However, the complex nature of cities results in significant intraurban variability in temperature as well as variability in the underlying demographic and social characteristics of the urban population. The growing appreciation for intraurban temperature variability has led to field campaigns to measure the fine-scaled patterns of extreme heat across the urban landscape. Many of these campaigns have been conducted under the Heat Watch Program (NOAA 2024), which was developed by CAPA Strategies and is currently funded by NOAA. Since 2017, over 60 cities and communities have participated in the Heat Watch Program, resulting in detailed machine learning–generated thermal “fingerprints” using data collected by volunteers. While these maps reveal the geographic distribution of heat across a city, there remains a gap in applying these data to better understand and respond to local-scale inequities in heat exposure.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Microclimatic Variability and Thermal Comfort of Spectators in an Outdoor Stadium Venue

  UNC Libraries · 2024-10-03

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This study examines heat exposure and its impact on the thermal comfort and health of spectators within a semi-outdoor American college football stadium in the southeastern United States. Over 50 sensors were deployed during the 2016 season from late August to late November to measure temperature and humidity across various stadium locations. Significant variations in temperature, heat index, and a modified version of the physiological equivalent temperature (mPET) were found within the stadium, with some areas exceeding National Weather Service heat alert thresholds during certain games. Moreover, mean temperatures in the stadium were higher than those measured at a nearby weather station, while the mean heat index was higher in the seating areas than in other stadium locations and at the nearby weather station. Reductions in modeled wind speed resulted in significant decreases in thermal comfort and greater physical stress among spectators, particularly when the wind was calm. Heat-related illness comprised up to two-thirds of all cases treated by first aid and emergency medical services during particularly hot games. Most of these occurred in the most thermally oppressive parts of the stadium. These results highlight the need for greater monitoring of heat exposure inside stadiums, earlier implementation of heat action plans to raise awareness and educate spectators on heat mitigation strategies, and incorporation of stadium design modifications that improve circulation, increase shade, and reduce crowding.

  PublisherDOI

• Microclimatic Variability and Thermal Comfort of Spectators in an Outdoor Stadium Venue

  Atmosphere · 2024-09-30 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  This study examines heat exposure and its impact on the thermal comfort and health of spectators within a semi-outdoor American college football stadium in the southeastern United States. Over 50 sensors were deployed during the 2016 season from late August to late November to measure temperature and humidity across various stadium locations. Significant variations in temperature, heat index, and a modified version of the physiological equivalent temperature (mPET) were found within the stadium, with some areas exceeding National Weather Service heat alert thresholds during certain games. Moreover, mean temperatures in the stadium were higher than those measured at a nearby weather station, while the mean heat index was higher in the seating areas than in other stadium locations and at the nearby weather station. Reductions in modeled wind speed resulted in significant decreases in thermal comfort and greater physical stress among spectators, particularly when the wind was calm. Heat-related illness comprised up to two-thirds of all cases treated by first aid and emergency medical services during particularly hot games. Most of these occurred in the most thermally oppressive parts of the stadium. These results highlight the need for greater monitoring of heat exposure inside stadiums, earlier implementation of heat action plans to raise awareness and educate spectators on heat mitigation strategies, and incorporation of stadium design modifications that improve circulation, increase shade, and reduce crowding.

  PublisherDOI

• Perceptions of weather-based pain forecasts and their effect on daily activities

  International Journal of Biometeorology · 2023-11-21 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Diagnosing the relationship between the Madden–Julian Oscillation and United States severe convective weather outbreaks

  International Journal of Climatology · 2023-09-19 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract The Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) is the leading intraseasonal mode of tropical variability and has been connected to influences in extratropical weather. Recently, the MJO has been gaining traction as a useful teleconnection for extending severe weather outbreak forecast lead time. However, the MJO's intraseasonal, planetary‐scale is far from the meso‐ or micro‐scale severe weather phenomena, making identifying links between the two more difficult. In our study, we use severe weather outbreaks comprising all three main hazards (wind, hail and tornadoes), which are typically linked to a synoptic‐scale system. Outbreaks are devised using kernel density estimation and were used to determine spatial shifts for each of the eight phases of the MJO in each month. A total of 15 months/phases indicated a significant spatial shift. In the spring and summer months (March–August), southerly shifts are more likely to occur in MJO phases 7–8 and 1–3, while northerly shifts are more likely in phases 4–6. In the cool season (September–February), only 3 month/phase groups indicated significant shifts, two shifting west and one north. Composite analysis showed the likely link between the MJO and these outbreak shifts was rooted in Rossby wave breaking and generation of a Rossby wave source induced by the barotropic vorticity advection from the MJO convection. These resulting wave breaks and wave trains led to changes in the storm track (amplitude and location) that resulted in a more favourable synoptic‐scale pattern for severe weather over the United States that deviated from the climatologically favourable region.

  PublisherDOI

• Heat exposure misclassification: Do current methods of classifying diurnal range in individually experienced temperatures and heat indices accurately reflect personal exposure?

  International Journal of Biometeorology · 2022 · 13 citations

  • Environmental science
  • Meteorology
  • Climatology
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Charles E. Konrad

  14 shared

• Jennifer D. Runkle

  University of North Carolina at Asheville

  11 shared

• Margaret M. Sugg

  Appalachian State University

  11 shared

• Andrew E. Mercer

  Mississippi State University

  6 shared

• Scott C. Sheridan

  Kent State University

  4 shared

• John D. Frye

  Mayo Clinic in Arizona

  4 shared

• Joshua D. Durkee

  Western Kentucky University

  4 shared

• Christopher Elcik

  Salisbury University

  4 shared

Labs

• SERCC The Southeast Regional Climate CenterPI