Stormstown

November 2018 Weather Summary

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Meteorological winter has begun. November was below normal for temperature with a monthly mean that was -5.1 deg. F below normal. The high for the month was 67.8 deg. F recorded on November 1. The low for the month was 15.4 deg F, recorded on November 23. There were 850 heating degree days.

November was an above normal month for precipitation with 4.77 inches of rainfall recorded. This was 1.53 inches above normal and has contributed to a 15.53 inch surplus for 2018. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 1.04 inches recorded on November 9. The annual precipitation surpassed 52 inches. There were 14 days of rain >.01 in, 9 >.1 in and 1 >1 in.

The first significant snowfall of the season, at 10.5 inches, was recorded on November 15.

November 2018 Data

The outlook for Winter (Dec. 2018, Jan. 2019 and Feb. 2019).

New Telescope

Bill1 Comment

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.

Summary of Winter 2017-2018

BillLeave a comment

​Meteorological Winter is officially over. Here is a brief summary of Dec 1-Feb 28 in Stormstown, PA:

Number of days Max T <=32 F: 29
Number of Days Min T <= 32 F: 71
Number of Days Min T <= 0 F: 3
Max T: 75.2 – February 12, 2018
Min T: -5.0 – January 11, 2018
Dec Dep from Normal: -3.3
Jan Dep from Normal: -1.9
Feb Dep from Normal: 6.1
Heating Degree Days: 3170
Cooling Degree Days: 2
Dec Precip: 0.92″, 2.21″ below normal
Jan Precip: 2.15″, 0.96″ below normal
Feb Precip: 5.60″, 3.33″ above normal

2017 Stormstown Weather Summary

BillLeave a comment

2017 Data Summary

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.