Long-term observations for monitoring extremes in the Americas

In this paper we discuss data available from Argentina Mexico, the United S tates and Canada that are suitable for the analysis of extreme temperature and precipitation events. We also discuss some of the problems of homogenei ty and quality control that can potentially affect the observation of extre me values. It is clear that even in countries like the United States and Ca nada that have a potentially rich source of climate data there are still pr oblems in obtaining homogeneous data necessary to perform thorough studies of time varying changes in extreme events. These types of problems may be c ompounded if data are needed from countries that do not have a tradition of maintaining large climate archives or observing networks. We also provide two examples of analyses that can be performed with these t ypes of data: (1) the development of climate extremes indices for Canada, a nd (2) analyses of freezing events for Florida and the effect on the citrus industry. The Canadian example provides a good basis for countries to take indices developed for one country or region and through minor modification s make the index relevant to their own needs. The analysis of freezing even ts in Florida is a timely example of how extreme events have both ecologica l and societal impact.