The linkage between meteorology/climate and hydrology of temperate lat
itude catchments on daily to decade time scales is studied. Detailed h
ydrology is provided by a hydrologic catchment model, adapted from the
operational streamflow forecast model of the National Weather Service
River Forecast System. The model is tuned to respond to observed dail
y precipitation and potential evaporation input. Results from the Bird
Creek basin with outlet near Sperry, Oklahoma, and from the Boone Riv
er basin with outlet at Webster City, Iowa, indicate that the model qu
ite accurately simulates the observed daily discharge over 40 years at
each of the two 2000-km(2) basins. Daily cross-correlations between o
bserved and simulated basin outflows were better than 0.8 for both bas
ins over a 40-year historical period. Soil moisture variability over a
period of four decades is studied, and an assessment of temporal and
spatial (as related to the separation distance of the two basins) scal
es present in the estimated soil moisture record is made. Negative soi
l. water anomalies have larger magnitudes than positive anomalies, and
comparison of the simulated soil water records of the two basins indi
cates spatial scales of variability that in several cases are as long
as the interbasin distance. The temporal scales of soil water content
are considerably longer than those of the forcing atmospheric variable
s for all seasons and both basins. Timescales of upper and total soil
water content anomalies are typically 1 and 3 months, respectively. Li
nkage between the hydrologic components and both local and regional-to
-hemispheric atmospheric variability is studied, both for atmosphere f
orcing hydrology and hydrology forcing atmosphere. For both basins, cr
osscorrelation analysis shows that local precipitation strongly forces
soil water in the upper soil layers with a 10-day lag. There is no ev
idence of soil water feedback to local precipitation. However, signifi
cant cross-correlation values are obtained for upper soil water leadin
g daily maximum temperature with 5-10 day lags, especially during peri
ods of extremely high or low soil water content. Complementary results
of a spatial hydroclimatic analysis are presented in a companion pape
r (Cayan and Georgakakos, this issue).