Record! (Unofficially, of course)
Unofficially... Oshkosh has broken the all-time monthly snowfall for the month of February. I am excited to see the official data from the National Weather Service!
Observed at OSNW3 (26.4")
Official monthly record (23.8")
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Saturday morning, Mar 1, we were at my Mother & Step Father's house is Suamico, WI.
I grew up here and cannot remember witnessing this much snow on the ground. So, as anyone would, I surveyed the yard for snow depth. I took 11 measurements around the perimeter of the "back yard" about 8' apart in the undisturbed snow pack. The average snow depth was 25.5" with the deepest depth measuring 26.8". This part of the yard is the furthest away from the woods. I took 5 more measurements along the "front yard" which is much closer to the woods and it averaged a snow depth of 20.2". It's not often I get to trounce around in over 2' of snow pack. It was a blast!
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I propose a silly question.
"It is often said that, astronomically, winter starts with the winter solstice and ends with the vernal equinox. In meteorology, it is by convention counted instead as the whole months of June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere and December, January and February in the Northern Hemisphere. While in actuality, the most accurate start and end point is simply defined by when the first major wave of cold fronts and warm fronts hit a particular area, having no universally predetermined dates." - Wikipedia
With that being said, what concrete events can we determine as the beginning of Winter and the end of Winter? If I wanted to put a length, in days, of how long Winter "actually" lasted I would, perhaps, have my concrete dates be the first 1" snowfall and the last day with snow on the ground. The Winter of 2006-2007, here at OSNW3, then, would have lasted from Nov 10 through Apr 12, a total of 153 days.
Granted this determination can be debated. If you were determine the length of Winter in "actuality" what would you use as your concrete events?
Observed at OSNW3 (26.4")
Official monthly record (23.8")
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Saturday morning, Mar 1, we were at my Mother & Step Father's house is Suamico, WI.
I grew up here and cannot remember witnessing this much snow on the ground. So, as anyone would, I surveyed the yard for snow depth. I took 11 measurements around the perimeter of the "back yard" about 8' apart in the undisturbed snow pack. The average snow depth was 25.5" with the deepest depth measuring 26.8". This part of the yard is the furthest away from the woods. I took 5 more measurements along the "front yard" which is much closer to the woods and it averaged a snow depth of 20.2". It's not often I get to trounce around in over 2' of snow pack. It was a blast!
---
I propose a silly question.
"It is often said that, astronomically, winter starts with the winter solstice and ends with the vernal equinox. In meteorology, it is by convention counted instead as the whole months of June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere and December, January and February in the Northern Hemisphere. While in actuality, the most accurate start and end point is simply defined by when the first major wave of cold fronts and warm fronts hit a particular area, having no universally predetermined dates." - Wikipedia
With that being said, what concrete events can we determine as the beginning of Winter and the end of Winter? If I wanted to put a length, in days, of how long Winter "actually" lasted I would, perhaps, have my concrete dates be the first 1" snowfall and the last day with snow on the ground. The Winter of 2006-2007, here at OSNW3, then, would have lasted from Nov 10 through Apr 12, a total of 153 days.
Granted this determination can be debated. If you were determine the length of Winter in "actuality" what would you use as your concrete events?
It's an abstract question, but you've got me thinking. I'll keep thinking, but as a rough draft, I came up with:
ReplyDeleteLast of Winter:
Daily maximum temperature above 32 for several consecutive days.
And average snow depth becomes unmeasurable, and stays below 1".
First of Winter:
Daily maximum temperature below 32 for several consecutive days.
And average snow depth above 1" for several consecutive days.
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I was looking at November 2007. While I measured an inch of snow on the ground Nov 21st, it reduced until I measured 1.5" on the ground on Nov 27th. From the 27th onwards, the snow remained greater than one inch. For temperatures there were three consecutive days that the high temperatures stayed below 32, but it wasn't until the 25th that high temps remained below freezing.
With two indicators pointing toward a set pattern, I would say my first day of winter was Nov 27th. Incidentally, in southern Ashland County, Nov 27th is the average date (from 2000 to 2007) the first snowflake is observed.
Any comments? Am I off my rocker?
I like it. I have received similar answers to yours. Until something better comes along, I think it makes sense, and do not think adding more variables would make it any more accurate. Simply set. I will use 4 as equaling several consecutive days.
ReplyDeleteMy first Winter observing, 2006-2007, started on Dec 2 and ended on Mar 17. 105 days of Winter.
My second Winter observing, 2007-2008, started on Dec 4 and hasn't ended yet, but is almost finished.
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With that said. I like it more now then I did when I first started typing. I will use this formula when defining the Winter season length at OSNW3. Am I off my rocker?!
Thanks for the time & thought cmlnmbs! Fun.
As I put the data together, though, we down here in Oshkosh, recently, have been having this awful thaw each January & February... so technically, if such a thaw transpires during the Meteorological Winter Season, it cannot be the last day of Winter and then the first day of Winter all over again.
ReplyDeleteHAHA. Completely abstract. I am sticking with it.
This is where being human is the advantage. We could plug any equation into a computer and have the changing of the seasons dictated to us.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I like being the judge of when the weather is doing something unusual and I would rather make these distinctions myself, but I do like some rough guidelines to help make the call between one way or the other.
On the other hand, most things are never as clear cut as we would like them to be & there is a limit of how hard we should go to draw lines :)
After a few runs last year...
ReplyDeletein the case of OSNW3, six(6), is used for "several" consecutive days.