I recently bought a new telescope. It is a 10 inch Dobsonian with a Go-To drive. The base required some assembly, which I completed in an hour. Now it is composed of two main parts, the base and optical tube. It sits on a cart so that it can be easily moved from indoors and then back inside. The finder-scope has been installed and aligned. I hope to complete its initialization soon and start observing operations. However, cloudy, rainy weather has curtailed any observations.
Meteorological Winter is officially over. Here is a brief summary of Dec 1-Feb 28 in Stormstown, PA:
The temperature in Stormstown dropped 55 F from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. It was definitely shirtsleeve weather on Friday and now it’s a frigid 20 F. The low this morning was 5 F. Cold temperatures are expected for much of the week. High temperatures are expected to be above freezing on Thursday and Friday.
The two-week-old brutal cold wave ended today. The high temperature today was 38 F. There lows during the last two weeks reached below zero temperatures 3 times, and stayed below freezing for the entire period. State College, PA, set a record for the coldest beginning of January.
Temperatures should reach the mid-40s F on Thursday and there will be another cold period next week.
As shown in the above graph, temperatures in Stormstown, PA, have not exceeded freezing since December 24, 2017. However, forecasts show a warming trend beginning next Tuesday (Graph begins at 12 AM EST on December 6, 2017). 2018 has had a frigid start with two days with minimum readings below 0 F.
Overall, the year’s temperatures were nearly 1 F above normal. Precipitation was about 4 inches below normal.
January
January was 3.8 deg F above normal with a high of 64.5 F and a low of 6.5 F. Precipitation was about normal with 3.1 inches of liquid precipitation. About 4 inches of snow fell on January 31.
February
February was much warmer with temperatures at 8.6 F above normal. The high was 75 F and the low was 10 F. Precipitation was below normal at 1.6 inches. About 8 inches of snow fell on February 9.
March
March temperatures were slightly below normal with a high of 72 F and a low of 8 F. Precipitation was also below normal with 3.15 inches of liquid precipitation. It snowed on March 14. On March 8 the high wind speed for the month and year was 55 mph.
April
Much above normal temperatures this month. The high was 79 F and the low was 30 F. Rainfall was about a half inch below normal at 2.9 inches. There was snowfall on April 7 switch no accumulation. First thunderstorm of the year on April 27,
May
On May 1, a tornado watch was issued, followed by a severe thunderstorm warning. A strong line of thunderstorms passed over Stormstown. Minor damage was reported in Boalsburg. More activity on May 30 with a tornado warning and hail reported in Huntingdon County. Temperatures were about 1.5 F below normal with a high of 87 F and a low of 30 F. The last day of temperatures below freezing was May 9. Precipitation was 2.6 inches above normal.
June
A severe thunderstorm warning issued on June 15. Temperatures for the month were about 1 F below normal. The high for the month and year was 91 F and the low was 45 F. Precipitation was below normal with 3 inches of rainfall.
July
The temperatures were near normal. and as expected, had the warmest temperatures with a mean of 72 F. The high was 89 F and the low was 50 F. Rainfall was 1 inch above normal with 4.46 inches of precipitation.
August
The month’s temperatures were 3.3 F below normal. The high was 87 F and the low was 48 F. Precipitation was more than an inch below normal at 2.85 inches.
September
Temperatures were near normal this month. The high was 89 F and the low was 39 F. It was also a relatively dry month with just 1.37 inches of rainfall. This was 2.61 inches below normal.
October
October was quite warm with temperatures that were 4.6 F above normal. The high was 81 F with a low of 29 F. The first day with below freezing temperatures was October 17. There were 5.12 inches of precipitation this month, 1.78 inches above normal.
November
Temperatures began to drop in November and were 2.6 F below normal. The high was 64 F and the low was 12 F. Precipitation was 2.3 inches, nearly an inch below normal.
December
This was the coldest month of 2017. The temperatures were 3.3 F below normal. The high was 53 F and the low was 2 F. Christmas was indeed white, with enough snow to cover the ground. Precipitation was 2.2 inches below normal with less than an inch of liquid precipitation.
Musings on Weather, Climate and Life in Central Pennsylvania
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