Speaking of which, so far this winter we have recorded snow on the ground 37 days. Now, I'm not sure what is normal, but I am certain that this amount is higher than average. Again, lower temperatures has been the cause of this. Normally, a snow will last anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days. This month alone, we saw a 15-day stretch with a snow pack.
February Daily Observations
Temperatures
Mean Temp: 28.4°
Deviation: (5.3°)
Maximum: 48° on Feb. 28
Minimum: 2° on Feb. 9
Heating Degree Days: 1024 | 791 Last Year
Cooling Degree Days: 0
Bob and OSNW3 have reported above average temperatures this February. I don't know what they're doing right, but we can't hardly get above average! We only had 4 days where the high temperature acheived a higher mark than average. The official Columbia NWS station only recorded one! It has been a chilly month in Missouri. A local fruit tree farmer told me that she will probably not have any peaches or apricots this year because of it.
Precipitation
Average February: 2.17"
Actual February: 2.59" (+0.42")
Average February Snow: 5.8"
Actual February Snow: 7.0" (+1.2")
Days with Measurable Precip: 10
Days with Measurable Snow: 7
Days with Snow Cover (>.01): 15
Days with Precip:
Precip Average: 2.17"
We have hit our average precip for the last three years.
Other Weather Info
Days with thunder: 0
Days with fog: 3
Days with wind gust (>= 20 mph): 3
3 comments:
Good morning, Baby Brother! Yet another great post by you. I feel horrible today, so my response isn't going to be long. I just want to know what "heating degree days" is. How can we have so many in one year???
BTW, please change my email address again. Not sure what's wrong with my yahoo, but I can't respond to or forward anything from it. :( My newest email address is ameliajosephine@live.com
It's a test to make sure everyone can spell my name. ;)
Love you bunches, hope you have a fabulous week!!!!!
WxWatcher, I often thought about your lasting snowpack. From the data I was able to obtain from the STL NWS, you were definitely above average.
See for your self by...
Navigating to the STL NWS homepage, from there clicking on the CLIMATE tab, then clicking on the NOWDATA tab, then selecting options 1-4. 1 being MONTHLY OCCURANCES, 2 being FULTON, 3 being SNOWDEPTH > 1", and 4 being 1971-2000.
Fun stuff how you were below average and we were above average. That El Nino split flow really makes difference in temperature. Our neighbor has a peach tree and it only blooms every other year... is this normal?
Only four days with measurable precip in 2009 and you recorded over 2.5". Dang, must've been some gully washers.
Hey Ami! Hope you get to feeling better soon. I hear your classes are going well, not to my surprise.
A heating degree day is a measure of how much heating energy was needed for a given day. It's calculated by finding the mean temperature for that day and finding the difference between that number and a base number (here it is 65). I'm still new to the concept, so I'm not sure how it is used or who uses it. I hope to use the past two years' data to figure out how well we're doing at home with our energy consumption. I think Dave Ramsey would do that. :o)
I'll change your e-mail address...again. ;o)
OSNW3, you rock! Thanks for digging a bit on the NWS site. They have so much information on there. I wasn't surprised to see an annual average of 25.5 days. I think we'll stay at our present number of 37. With long range temps in the 40s and 50s, even a little snow may not last a day now.
And I'll ask about the peach tree. It makes sense that it would flower biannually, with your cooler climate. I know it is touch and go here in Missouri as it is.
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