BLOG: September Progress Report; A Look at Long Range

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September is half over...let's take a minute to review the month so far in the region. First of all, a look at the US as a whole. It's been ANOTHER cooler than average month across the Plains and Rockies: monthtodateUSHere in Youngstown, after a very warm start it has been very cool lately....so the 1st half of the month has turned out to be about average. That said, we have had some warm starts to Septembers lately so the first half of this September has been the coolest since 2006: tempsrank Before we get off the subject of temperatures...a quick look at the temperature anomalies across the globe for the YEAR to date....notice how COLD 2014 has been in parts of North America: globe In the precipitation department, it's been a bit drier than average, especially in the southern half of our viewing area. Approximate precipitation totals so far this month: ohioprecipA wet month so far in NW OHio.Here's the daily summary of the 1st half of the month in Youngstown: dailyAnd now, a look into the crystal ball for the rest of the month and beyond. We will stay cooler than average through the rest of the week as a trough, or dip in the jet stream resides over the eastern US: jetnowA quick shot of warmth is coming just in time for the start of the weekend! Notice the change in the jet stream between now (above) and Saturday: jetsatThe trough in the East lifts out. BUT this will be a temporary change. By early next week, another shot of October-like chill is set to arrive. Here's the jet stream a week from today: jetinaweekThe chill should ease toward the end of next week.October is 2 weeks away. Climate models have been advertising a near or slightly above average month temperature-wise and an average month precipitation-wise. Temperatures: octtempsRain: octprecipThanks for reading! Have a good Tuesday.Eric  

BLOG: A Review of Meteorological Summer in Youngstown

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Meteorological Summer, the 3 climatologically warmest months of the year, is June, July and August. Now that September has started, let's have a look at the Summer numbers.Part 1: It was a cool Summer, right??? Well, sort of. The perception of the Summer of 2014 is that it was very cool. Yes, there were some very cool stretches, but when we look at the 3 months as a whole....it was almost exactly AVERAGE! Here are the final numbers: summersummaryIt was just 1/5 of a degree below average! Surprising, right? Well it's important to note that June was a WARMER than average June....and August finished warm. That balances the numbers out,Departure from average by month:JUNE: +2.5 degreesJULY: -2.5 degrees AUGUST: -0.6 degrees Another way to look at the data is in graphical form. We flirted with record lows a few times, but no new daily record highs were set: summergraphHow does this Summer compare to past years? It was slightly cooler than last year and much cooler than the Summers of 2012 and 2011. Not as cool as 2009, 2004: last10On the list of coolest Summers, this year was nowhere near the top of the list. summerranksPart 2: It was really wet right?? YES!!While the temperature stats are not very impressive for the Summer, the rain numbers are. At the YNG airport, there was about 3" more rain than average: summersummaryA graphical look at the observed rain vs. average rain over the course of the Summer: precipgraphHow does this Summer's rain compare to past years? It was the 15th wettest since on record: precipranks BUT: These numbers are just for the airport, where official records are kept. MANY locations picked up more rain than this over the last few months. Here is a map showing satellite-based rain estimates since June 1: summerrainmapClick on the map to enlarge and see more detail. Notice the legend on the right. The purple/blue colors=more than 20 inches. Northern Trumbull and eastern Mercer had a particularly wet Summer!Thanks for reading!Eric