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“The October 2009 average temperature for the contiguous United States was the third coolest on record for that month according to NOAA’s State of the Climate report issued today. Based on data going back to 1895, the monthly National Climatic Data Center analysis is part of the suite of climate services provided by NOAA.”
Click here or on the image for the full story…
Posted under climate
This post was written by Randy on November 17, 2009
Our local climate guru at the NWS office in La Crosse, Jeff Boyne, summarized the outlook for the coming winter.
He summarizes the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the coming winter, but also brings in some excellent data correllations and introduces some “wild cards” that could work against the official CPC/NOAA outlook for our region.
If you are at all curious what the outlook is for the coming winter and want the opinion of a local expert, I highly recommend you check it out!
This post was written by Randy on November 4, 2009
Congrats on making it through one of the weirdest Octobers in Rochester’s recent history. 2nd wettest on record, snow-y, cold, and generally not feeling very fall-ish. Infact, as of today, I see most of the leaves are off the trees and in my yard.
That being said, enjoy some October climate history from the NWS La Crosse. Included is the line-up of soggy Octobers.
A warm front today brought us our fantastically mild Sunday; a cold front sweeping through overnight will give way to slightly cooler, but still seasonably mild, temps for Monday. Look for a breezy afternoon as well, with winds out of the northwest about 10-20mph. Not too shabby of a start to November.
This post was written by Steph on November 1, 2009
Thanks to Jeff Boyne at the NWS La Crosse office for digging up some nifty, October ‘09 weather statistics…
As of the 20th of this October, this is the 4th wettest start to an October with 3.45″, the wettest start to an October since 1970. That doesn’t include the 1.55″ of rainfall we received today, the 21st. This is also the 3rd coldest start to an October with an average temperature of 42.1°, the coldest start to an October since 1952.
Needless to say, this is making the soybean and corn harvest difficult…
Posted under Rochester, climate, history, rainfall amounts
This post was written by Randy on October 21, 2009
After what seemed to be an eternal stretch of gloomy, damp, gray, and wintry days this week, we’re definitely starting to see some improvement in our local weather. Sunshine has made a huge difference in temperatures in the past two days and moods seem to be brightening up as well, or so it seems. Today we reached 50° for the first time in 9 days, a milestone achievement that shouldn’t need to be heralded with much fanfare considering it’s still almost 10 degrees cooler than what we call “normal” for this time of the year, but this October has been far from “normal.” So far, this month has been the coldest October in Rochester’s history with high temperatures averaging in the 40s instead of the lower 60s where they should be through the first half of the month. Like I said earlier, we do have some improvements ahead in the next few days that should bring that temperature average up a bit. Abundant sunshine is expected tomorrow with gusty south winds and highs in the upper 50s followed by some 60° highs on Monday under sun filled skies. Enjoy the more Octoberlike weather for the next few days!
Saturday evening's sunset from the Suk Lawfirm Skycam in downtown Rochester
Posted under Uncategorized, climate, fall photos
This post was written by tschmidt on October 17, 2009
The good folks at the NWS office in La Crosse put together a rundown of the top 10 coldest, first 2 weeks of October. Wouldn’t ya know, we’re #1 in Rochester and La Crosse! (source)
LA CROSSE ROCHESTER
Rank Value Year Rank Value Year1 44.0 2009 1 41.5 20092 45.9 1979 2 42.7 19173 46.5 1987 3 42.9 19354 46.7 1952 4 43.7 19525 47.2 1977 43.7 19856 47.5 1988 6 44.2 19877 47.8 1964 7 44.8 19648 48.3 1959 8 45.0 19779 48.7 1945 9 45.2 198810 49.6 1974 45.2 1959
Posted under climate
This post was written by Randy on October 14, 2009
A quick dusting of snow early Saturday morning, highs brushing the upper 30s, a hard freeze last night, winds bringing wind chills down to the 20s during our Saturday…cool stuff
We’re faced with another hard freeze again tonight (if you haven’t guessed already, judging by how things are going today…). Infact, lows tonight could approach record low temperatures. Rochester’s record low for October 11th is 17° (1919). Austin’s is 22° (1987). Charles City’s is 16° (also 1987). Mason City’s is 17°.
We didn’t set a record cold high for our Saturday (38° was the record), but we did only hit 40°. Close enough!
Hey, and check this out. No complaining about the dusting of snow (if you saw it this morning). If you have travel plans to the north and west Sunday night into Monday, be forewarned of the Winter Storm Watch. That’s right. We’ll be affected by that same system, and we’ll talk more about during the news on Sunday! Stay tuned.
This post was written by Steph on October 10, 2009
…for some, anyway. Fall colors are at 75-100% around Duluth, the far eastern tip of the Arrowhead, around Lake of the Woods, and a portion of central Minnesota.
Check out these links for fall color reports in
Posted under climate, fall photos, minnesota
This post was written by Randy on October 7, 2009
Almost like clockwork we’re facing the prospect of our first frost in the area tonight as our weather pattern continues to make up for lost time by ushering in some very fall-like conditions this week.
The average first frost in most of our local area is October 1st, so we’re just abouty right on target tonight. It’s hard to believe that only a couple of days ago we were still riding the wave of that incredible warm spell that dragged late summer weather into the last full week of September a week ago.
Well, those summer-like days are gone…for now anyway, as we face the spectre of frost in our weather picture. With clear skies under an approaching area of high pressure and very light east winds, we’ll have the right ingredients in place for the first widespread frost of the season, that is assuming all of that pesky cloud cover will continue to erode across the region today.
The National Weather Service has issued a Frost Advisory from midnight tonight through 8:00 tomorrow morning for southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and most of Wisconsin so don’t forget to cover those sensitive outdoor plants or bring them inside if possible. The good news is, beyond tonight our overnight temperatures will likely be a bit warmer so frost isn’t expected for the next several days. We’ll just have to get through tonight and maybe then we’ll be able to keep things green and healthy for a while longer.
Posted under climate
This post was written by tschmidt on September 29, 2009
The NWS La Crosse office put together a ranking of the driest stretches in Rochester’s recorded weather history. Here’s a nifty cut-and-paste for your pleasure. Source
AT 1157 AM CDT THIS MORNING...ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
RECEIVED THEIR FIRST RAINFALL SINCE 207 PM CDT ON AUGUST 25TH. THIS
ENDED A STREAK OF 26 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH NO PRECIPITATION.
THIS WAS THE SIXTH LONGEST STRETCH OF DAYS WITH NO PRECIPITATION
AND THE LONGEST SINCE A 30 DAY STRETCH IN 1952 /OCTOBER 17 TO
NOVEMBER 15/. THE LONGEST STRETCH WITH NO PRECIPITATION IS 31 DAYS
/FEBRUARY 2 THROUGH MARCH 3 1912/. THE TABLE BELOW LISTS THE TEN
LONGEST STRETCHES OF DAYS WITH NO PRECIPITATION IN ROCHESTER
MINNESOTA.
LONGEST OF STRETCHES OF DAYS
WITH NO PRECIPITATION
IN ROCHESTER MN
CONSECUTIVE
RANK DAYS DATES
---- ----------- -----
1 31 DAYS FEB 2 - MAR 3 1912
2 30 DAYS OCT 17 - NOV 15 1952
30 DAYS JAN 7 - FEB 5 1911
4 27 DAYS JAN 26 - FEB 21 1913
27 DAYS MAR 2 - MAR 28 1910
6 26 DAYS AUG 26 - SEP 20 2009
7 25 DAYS JAN 8 - FEB 1 1919
25 DAYS NOV 2 - NOV 26 1917
25 DAYS MAY 27 - JUN 20 1913
10 24 DAYS OCT 26 - NOV 18 1953
24 DAYS JUL 22 - AUG 14 1908
PRECIPITATION RECORDS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THE ROCHESTER AREA
FROM 1886 TO 1920 AND FROM 1929 TO 2009.
Posted under climate, rainfall
This post was written by Randy on September 21, 2009