This project summarizes the findings of research organized in two parts. The first involved the characterization of changes in the variability of climate that lead to extreme events. The second focused on the predictability of extreme climate on time-scales ranging from short forecast lead-times to long-lead climate predictions exceeding a year. Initial studies focused on three interrelated, yet regionally unique extreme climate phenomena. First, the relationship between increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and particulate matter (PM) concentration in basin terrain was investigated. Next, we evaluated changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation associated with two climate phenomena at either extreme side of the water cycle--droughts and floods. In the final analysis, an attempt was made to understand the mechanisms that link two North Pacific ENSO precursor patterns to the ENSO cycle.