Weather Update

Through A.D. 2009 December 26:

Days with snow cover: 25
Days with complete snow cover: 14
Total snowfall: 024 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 08 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 08 centimeters
Maximum low temperature: 04º Fahrenheit (-15.5º Celsius)

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. As in years past, this year's Christmas weather was less than ideal. Ironically, Christmas day was the warmest (and the only one with a high temperature above freezing) in the past sixteen days! We started with close-to-complete snow cover. The regular brown patches expanded over the course of the day. It began pouring down rain about 16:00, and the snow cover was almost completely gone by 20:00. As I type this on A.D. 2009 December 26, I can't even see any snow out the window. There's still a little bit out there, but the patches are few and far between. Christmas in Dundee...

Was it a white Christmas? I don't know. For the most part, we had complete snow cover this morning. However, that was gone by the end of the day. The weather was the exact opposite of what you'd want on Christmas: the warmest day in more than two weeks and rainy. I guess I'm going to say "yes" to it being a white Christmas but "hell no" to it feeling like a white Christmas.

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2009 December 18:

Days with snow cover: 17
Days with complete snow cover: 07
Total snowfall: 022 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 08 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 08 centimeters
Maximum low temperature: 04º Fahrenheit (-15.5º Celsius)

Three more days with complete snow cover, though we have less than 5 centimeters on the ground. In some places the snow cover is almost gone despite the fact that our high temperatures have been in the low 20s Fahrenheit. At this point, a white Christmas looks possible, but not definite. We'll probably lose most of our snow in the next week (days are forecast to be sunny with high temperatures in the upper 20s and lower 30s), but there is a chance for a storm on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2009 December 12:

Days with snow cover: 11
Days with complete snow cover: 04
Total snowfall: 018 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 08 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 08 centimeters

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2009 December 09:

Days with snow cover: 08
Days with complete snow cover: 01
Total snowfall: 015 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 08 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 08 centimeters

Eight centimeters of snow and sleet accumulated last night, resulting in a much appreciated day off from school. Despite the storm, which was the largest of the season, the ground is quickly reappearing beneath a rapidly melting blanket of snow. Yeah, it was one of those storms. You know, the kind that drops a bunch of heavy wet snow, then turns to rain and melts almost everything that accumulated. When I woke up this morning it was already above freezing and raining. It certainly tempers the excitement of our first real snow event since the highly irregular mid-October snowfall.

Weather Update

Ahhh, Winter* has finally returned. It snowed unexpectedly today. In addition, today was the first day of the Winter of A.D. 2009/2010 with a high temperature at or below 0º Celsius. (Today's high temperature was about 29º Fahrenheit.) The snowfall was the fourth in the past week, but the first that accumulated. In fact, today's snow cover was the first since A.D. 2009 October 17. Incredibly, we went the entire month of November with no sticking snow. Perhaps just as incredibly, it only snowed three times for a grand total of approximately 45 minutes. Most days during November had high temperatures in the 50s Fahrenheit. The absence of sticking snow in November marked the first time in the six Novembers that I have lived here that has happened.

Through A.D. 2009 December 05:

Days with snow cover: 04
Days with complete snow cover: 00
Total snowfall: 007 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 06 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 06 centimeters

*Note: I capitalize the name of the season Winter knowing that it is grammatically incorrect to do so. However, I believe that it deserves it.

Winter Weather Update

Well, we had our first snowfall of the winter of A.D. 2009/2010 on Thursday, A.D. 2009 October 15. It was the earliest snowfall that anyone in my family could remember. (They've lived in this area since 1977.) The snowfall marked the midpoint of about six straight days of extremely unseasonable weather. After a full day of light-to-moderate snow, it began sticking at about 19:30 at my home. When we awoke the next morning, a full 6 centimeters (about 2.5 inches) had accumulated. The rarity of such an early storm is illustrated by the fact that a coworker's father (whose birthday is October 15) could not remember ever having snow on or before his birthday...and he's 85. The storm really was a special treat, and I feel blessed to have experienced it. The statistics for the storm are as follows:

First snow: 2009 October 15
First snow accumulation: 2008 October 15 (06 centimeters)

Through A.D. 2009 October 17:

Days with snow cover: 03
Days with complete snow cover: 00
Total snowfall: 006 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 06 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 06 centimeters

P.S. Complete snow cover lasted until about 14:00 on Friday, October 16. Friday's high temperature was only 34 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1 degree Celsius) and much of the snow remained at nightfall. The following morning, there were still pockets of snow dotting the landscape.

First hard frost...for real.

Well, the growing season of 2009 came to an end on Monday, A.D. 2009 October 12. We had experienced a few light frosts in the weeks leading up to the 12th, but none that left the entire yard white. Monday was 27º Fahrenheit (-2.7º Celsius). The tomato plants were totally wiped out, which pretty much defines a "hard frost." With this information, I can tally the length of the 2009 growing season:

Last hard frost of spring: 2009 May 19
Last light frost of spring: 2009 May 19
First light frost of autumn: 2009 September 20
First hard frost of autumn: 2009 October 12
Length of the 2009 growing season: 145 days

The statistics for the growing season of 2008 were:

Last hard frost of spring: 2008 May 05

Last light frost of spring: 2008 May 28

First light frost of autumn: 2008 September 19

First hard frost of autumn: 2008 October 07

Length of the 2008 growing season: 154 days

The statistics for the growing season of 2007 were:

Last hard frost of spring: 2007 May 14

Last light frost of spring: 2007 May 22

First light frost of autumn: 2007 September 17

First hard frost of autumn: 2007 October 29

Length of the 2008 growing season: 167 days

The statistics for the growing season of 2006 were:

Last hard frost of spring: 2006 May 07

Last light frost of spring: 2006 May 07

First light frost of autumn: 2006 September 29

First hard frost of autumn: 2006 October 06

Length of the 2008 growing season: 151 days

I'm not sure of the spring statistics for 2005 because my wife and I lived in western New York for a brief period of time. The autumn statistics were as follows:

First light frost of autumn: 2005 October 20

First hard frost of autumn: 2005 October 28