Interesting Weather Stats Any Season, Anywhere (summers, Raleigh, climate, snow)
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In the High Arctic, spring comes late; the first above-freezing temperature of the year, a marker for spring in many areas well north of the Arctic Circle, sometimes doesn't come until the calendar says summer. How long do the few hardy people north of the 75th parallel have to wait for the thermometer to creep above freezing? Just freezing, 32.0 F / 0.0 C doesn't cut it; it has to go ABOVE freezing, as in a temperature of 32.1 F / 0.1 C or higher recorded. I checked daily AND hourly data, as it wasn't uncommon to see negative/positive Celsius errors (e.g. a day recorded as having a high of 2 C when it was -2 C). If the daily data showed a high above freezing but the hourly data didn't support it, I erred on the side of it staying below freezing; some of these days may have gotten above freezing briefly, and thus the average dates provided may be slightly off, but should be within a day.
I compared 7 locations, 4 in Canada, 2 in Greenland, and 1 in Svalbard to figure it out.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard was the runaway earliest: an average date of January 18. In a 45-year period of record, Longyearbyen's gone above freezing on New Year's Day 6 times. In two of these years, 2012/13 and 2015/16, the year transitioned while the temperature was above freezing. 1995 was the longest hold-out, at March 11. The median date was January 10.
Thule Air Base, Greenland was a distant second, averaging April 3 in 67 years of record. Thule was all over the place, with everything from January 1, 7 am (2011) to June 2 (1992), the lone June date. The median date was April 23, but 24 of the 67 years had dates in March or earlier, all before the 18th.
The other Greenlandic location, Danmarkshavn, averaged April 28. In its 47 year record, the first above-freezing date has ranged from January 12 (1987) to June 3 (1979), with a median of May 14. 8 of the 47 years saw dates from January 12 to March 11, while the remaining 39 ranged from April 14 to June 3.
Of the four Canadian locations, Alert is the first, on average; with a date of May 26. It was the only location of the four to record any above freezing temperatures before May, with a February 5 (1963) and February 26 (1965). The remaining 54 years in the record ranged from May 3 (1974) to June 25 (1975), the June 25 being the latest of any year in the entire data set. Exclude the two outliers, and the average date is May 29, still comparable to some locations much further south. The median date falls on May 31.
Eureka is the next, its average is a day later than Alert at May 27. In a 68-year period of record, this has ranged from May 6 (1986) to June 13 (1956). The median is May 29. At just 38 days, this is the lowest amount of variability of all 7 locations, despite being tied for the most years recorded with Resolute and Thule.
Resolute is the second-latest, averaging May 29. This has ranged from May 6 (1965) to June 19 (1992). The median is June 1. 35 out of 68 years had their first above-freezing temperature in June, a slight majority, meaning that Resolute is one of the few, if not the only, civilian settlement in the world where a majority of years don't even reach freezing until meteorological summer.
Isachsen is the latest, by a significant margin: June 3. This has ranged from May 9 (1952) to June 20 (1974). The median is also June 3. Isachsen is among the most brutal climates in all of the Arctic and the late date at which it first goes above freezing helps confirm this.
Eureka, Nunavut: May 27, POR 1948-present, missing 1968-1972
Resolute, Nunavut: May 29, POR 1948-present, missing 1968-1972
Isachsen, Nunavut: June 3, POR 1948-1978
Alert, Nunavut: May 26, POR 1951-2006
Thule Air Base, GL: April 3, POR 1952-present, missing 1971&1972
Danmarkshavn, GL: April 28, POR 1973-present, missing 2015
Longyearbyen, NO: January 18, POR 1976-present
In the High Arctic, spring comes late; the first above-freezing temperature of the year, a marker for spring in many areas well north of the Arctic Circle, sometimes doesn't come until the calendar says summer. How long do the few hardy people north of the 75th parallel have to wait for the thermometer to creep above freezing? Just freezing, 32.0 F / 0.0 C doesn't cut it; it has to go ABOVE freezing, as in a temperature of 32.1 F / 0.1 C or higher recorded. I checked daily AND hourly data, as it wasn't uncommon to see negative/positive Celsius errors (e.g. a day recorded as having a high of 2 C when it was -2 C). If the daily data showed a high above freezing but the hourly data didn't support it, I erred on the side of it staying below freezing; some of these days may have gotten above freezing briefly, and thus the average dates provided may be slightly off, but should be within a day.
I compared 7 locations, 4 in Canada, 2 in Greenland, and 1 in Svalbard to figure it out.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard was the runaway earliest: an average date of January 18. In a 45-year period of record, Longyearbyen's gone above freezing on New Year's Day 6 times. In two of these years, 2012/13 and 2015/16, the year transitioned while the temperature was above freezing. 1995 was the longest hold-out, at March 11. The median date was January 10.
Thule Air Base, Greenland was a distant second, averaging April 3 in 67 years of record. Thule was all over the place, with everything from January 1, 7 am (2011) to June 2 (1992), the lone June date. The median date was April 23, but 24 of the 67 years had dates in March or earlier, all before the 18th.
The other Greenlandic location, Danmarkshavn, averaged April 28. In its 47 year record, the first above-freezing date has ranged from January 12 (1987) to June 3 (1979), with a median of May 14. 8 of the 47 years saw dates from January 12 to March 11, while the remaining 39 ranged from April 14 to June 3.
Of the four Canadian locations, Alert is the first, on average; with a date of May 26. It was the only location of the four to record any above freezing temperatures before May, with a February 5 (1963) and February 26 (1965). The remaining 54 years in the record ranged from May 3 (1974) to June 25 (1975), the June 25 being the latest of any year in the entire data set. Exclude the two outliers, and the average date is May 29, still comparable to some locations much further south. The median date falls on May 31.
Eureka is the next, its average is a day later than Alert at May 27. In a 68-year period of record, this has ranged from May 6 (1986) to June 13 (1956). The median is May 29. At just 38 days, this is the lowest amount of variability of all 7 locations, despite being tied for the most years recorded with Resolute and Thule.
Resolute is the second-latest, averaging May 29. This has ranged from May 6 (1965) to June 19 (1992). The median is June 1. 35 out of 68 years had their first above-freezing temperature in June, a slight majority, meaning that Resolute is one of the few, if not the only, civilian settlement in the world where a majority of years don't even reach freezing until meteorological summer.
Isachsen is the latest, by a significant margin: June 3. This has ranged from May 9 (1952) to June 20 (1974). The median is also June 3. Isachsen is among the most brutal climates in all of the Arctic and the late date at which it first goes above freezing helps confirm this.
Eureka, Nunavut: May 27, POR 1948-present, missing 1968-1972
Resolute, Nunavut: May 29, POR 1948-present, missing 1968-1972
Isachsen, Nunavut: June 3, POR 1948-1978
Alert, Nunavut: May 26, POR 1951-2006
Thule Air Base, GL: April 3, POR 1952-present, missing 1971&1972
Danmarkshavn, GL: April 28, POR 1973-present, missing 2015
Longyearbyen, NO: January 18, POR 1976-present
Nice analysis. What’s interesting with these locations is how very close the record July lows are to the average lows.
Nice analysis. What’s interesting with these locations is how very close the record July lows are to the average lows.
That's true, less than 5.6 C / 10 F sometimes.
I'm doing a comparison with McMurdo, Antarctica, one of the few places south of 75 South that gets above freezing. While it is an ice cap climate, an average high around 31 F / -1 C in December and January ensures that a number of days every summer get above freezing.
On average, McMurdo reached freezing for the first time on December 1. This ranged from October 13 (1992) to January 2 (2015). The median date was December 3. The October 13 date was an outlier; the remaining years had dates from November 8 to January 2. The January 2 date, which would be equivalent to July 2 at a Northern Hemisphere location, is the latest date in all eight locations measured.
The period of record was 49 years; 1970-2019 excluding 1990 (approximately the first three weeks of November were missing data that year).
While McMurdo's date of first freezing temperature was comparable to the Canadian Arctic locations of a similar latitude (average equivalent to June 1), McMurdo's average temperatures peak a few weeks earlier than those of the Canadian Arctic. Peak average temperatures are in late December (equivalent to late June), with November being warmer than February. The Arctic locations' temperatures normally peak around the third week of July.
Next post will be the average date these locations LAST go above freezing in a given year. I'm predicting late January (late July) for McMurdo; second week of September for Eureka, Isachsen and Alert; third week of September for Resolute; early October for Danmarkshavn; early November for Thule; and mid December for Svalbard.
Interesting phenomenon obove Belgrade capital of Serbia on December 9, 2020 in evening.
On altitude of 440 m probe registred temperature of -0.1c and on 100 m higher altitude on 540 m it was +8c. Above that temperature again was below zero on about 2000 m.
Some of the more impressive DP's recently in the Top End of the Northern Territory.....the 'build up' to the Wet Season is a particularly trying time climatically.
AMAZING dewpoints recorded yesterday across all stations in the Darwin area.
If I saw these figures alone, I’d assume error, but this was widespread across the entire region! Even inland stations had crazy figures.
1.30pm Darwin airport : 33.6/26.4
11.30am Point Stuart : 34/30.9
1.30pm Charles Point : 29.9/28.5
12.00pm Wadeye : 33.2/26.7
3.30pm Dum In Mirrie : 33.9/26.1
10.30am Middle Point : 32/27
3.00pm Point Fawcett : 33.1/27.1
9.00am Batchelor : 30.7/25.8
9.30am Noonamah : 31.8/26.4
Was 33.2/28.7 at Gunn Point around 1:30pm.
Latest forecasts show the possibility of a weak Monsoonal trough forming off the coast of Darwin early next week.
Edit: For Thule, the average date of the first above-freezing temperature is April 1, and the earliest is January 1, as the clock struck midnight, in 1953.
Belgrade had 34 days in a row with temperature below zero during the whole day from December 23, 1892 to January 25, 1893. Such days in Serbian are known as "ledeni dani" ("cold days").
Here are temperatures in Belgrade for period which I mentioned. Far right column are highs and adjacent column left are lows (in Celsius). Lowest temperature ever in Belgrade -26.2c in measured on January 10, 1893, as it's visible down (high on that day was -10.3c).
McMurdo got above freezing ONE time in the 1977-1978 summer. This has to be some kind of record for an inhabited place not built on ice. Yes, McMurdo is an "ice-cap" climate per Koppen but in reality is more like a very cold tundra climate, with some vegetation (moss and lichen) able to grow during its snow-free season.
The lucky date was December 16, 1977, 43 years ago today.
It would be extremely unusual for a "traditional" colder-end tundra climate, such as Alert, Nunavut, to have less than about 50 days get above freezing in a given year. McMurdo averages more like 25 or so (just a guess).
Eureka, Nunavut had a frost-free period of June 29 to August 8 in 1979.
No other days were free of below-freezing temperatures that year in Eureka, as in every day through June 28 had a low below freezing and every day starting August 9 had a low below freezing.
Isachsen, Nunavut did the same thing... from August 1 to 3, 1961.
First freeze-free day on August 1, in a tundra (non ice-cap) climate, and a grand total of THREE days in all of 1961 that managed to stay above freezing for all 24 hours. Yet due to the highs, the climate was able to avoid an EF (ice-cap) Koppen classification that year.
Last edited by wawa1992; 12-17-2020 at 04:27 AM..
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