Cooling Degree Days

   Cooling Degree Days are a value used to estimate energy requirements for air conditioning or refrigeration.  Typically, cooling degree days are calculated as how much warmer the mean temperature at a location is than 65°F on a given day. For example, if a location experiences a mean temperature of 75°F on a certain day, there were 10 CDD (Cooling Degree Days) that day because 75 – 65 = 10.

It looks like we’ll be rounding out the month of August on a warm and humid note, but there will be a brief respite from the heat coming up with the passage of a cold front later this week.  We’ll get at least a short lived break from this heat between Thursday and Sunday.

Thus, if you’re itching for something out-of-the-August-ordinary to do this weekend…or before school starts…consider heading on out to an orchard. Can we say, maybe less crowds, too?? If you’re holding out until September to go pick, there will still be apples to go around.

Look for highs in the mid/upper 80s for Sunday and Monday. It’ll be more humid both days, still breezy, and we’ll see more clouds Monday than Sunday. Enjoy!

The time of viewing will vary up on location, so be sure to check out viewing times by your zip code at this site: http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/index.php?PHPSESSID=jg0se50j2djd0dfhsdlqq546a6

The ISS will also be visible Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday evenings. Most likely beyond that too, but I haven’t checked the schedule that far out yet.

Here are some more local morning low temperatures along with yesterday’s highs from the National Weather Service in La Crosse in their daily climate summary:

MAX/MIN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE FOR
THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
808 AM CDT THU AUG 26 2010

…OBSERVATION STATIONS…
VALUES REPRESENT HIGHS YESTERDAY…12-HOUR LOWS…
AND 24-HOUR PRECIPITATION ENDING AT  7 AM CENTRAL TIME
:
:                                 HIGH   LOW   PCPN
:
TOB  : DODGE CENTER AWOS   MN   :   72 /  48 / 0.00
OLZ  : OELWEIN AWOS        IA   :    M /   M /    M
LSE  : LA CROSSE ASOS      WI   :   75 /  51 / 0.00
RST  : ROCHESTER ASOS      MN   :   71 /  47 / 0.00
VOK  : VOLK FIELD ASOS     WI   :   72 /  43 / 0.00
Y51  : VIROQUA AWOS        WI   :   70 /  51 / 0.00
PVB  : PLATTEVILLE AWOS    WI   :   74 /  49 / 0.00
PDC  : PRAIRIE DU CHIEN AWOWI   :   76 /  51 / 0.00
ONA  : WINONA AWOS         MN   :   73 /  50 / 0.00
DEH  : DECORAH AWOS        IA   :   73 /  50 / 0.00
CMY  : SPARTA-FT MCCOY AWOSWI   :   72 /  43 / 0.00
OVS  : BOSCOBEL ASOS       WI   :   77 /  50 / 0.00
MDZ  : MEDFORD AWOS        WI   :   70 /  45 / 0.00
CCY  : CHARLES CITY AWOS   IA   :   73 /  50 / 0.00
AUM  : AUSTIN AWOS         MN   :   72 /  46 / 0.00
FKA  : PRESTON AWOS        MN   :   72 /  52 / 0.00

:…OTHER AUTOMATED OBSERVATIONS…
: VALUES REPRESENT THE 24 HOURS ENDING AT  7 AM CENTRAL TIME
:
:                                 HIGH   LOW   PCPN
:
NEHW3: NECEDAH RAWS        WI   :   74 /  44 / 0.00
YSPI4: YELLOW RIVER PARK   IA   :   76 /  45 / 0.00
BBLW3: BOSCOBEL RAWS       WI   :   74 /  51 / 0.00
BFWW3: BLACK RIVER FALLS RAWI   :   74 /  47 / 0.00
DMLW3: DIAMOND LAKE RAWS   WI   :   70 /  41 / 0.00
NCHW3: NECEDAH 5WNW CRN    WI   :   72 /  44 / 0.00

Record String of Days with Lows at or Above 55 degrees at Rochester MN Ends

    1         55     7/01-8/24 2010
    2         46     6/28-8/12 1916
    3         44     6/28-8/10 1955
    4         43     6/11-7/23 1998
    5         40     7/06-8/14 2006
    6         37     6/28-8/03 1957
    7         35     7/04-8/07 2008
    8         35     7/14-8/25 2007
    9         33     7/07-8/08 2001
   10         33     7/07-8/08 1983

NWS at the Minnesota State Fair

    Meteorologists and hydrologists from the National Weather Service Weather and Water Forecast Office in Chanhassen, Minnesota will host a booth at The Great Minnesota Get Together, the 2010 Minnesota State Fair.  The fair is held annually at the state fairgrounds in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights.  The NWS is at the fair daily from 9 am to 9 pm from August 26th through Labor Day, September 6th.

The NWS, along with representatives from the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), will have their booth in the education building on the east side of the fairgrounds.  A map highlighting the education building can be enlarged to the right. This booth will feature the following: Computer terminals to navigate NWS web sites. A large display highlighting the historical statewide tornado event of 17th June 2010. An interactive precipitation measurement game. A preparedness section, provided by the Minnesota Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, with brochures on weather safety information, including NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio. A tornado simulator. A lightning globe. A weather trivia game for all ages. And much more!

Minnesota State Fairgrounds Map (Education building highlighted)

The National Weather Service hopes to see you at the 2010 Minnesota State Fair!

Here’s a look at our other months:
July: 1 (normal: 3.1 days)
June: 0 (normal: 1.7 days)
May: 2 (normal: 0.3 days)
April: 0 (normal: 0.1 days)

But it’s still been warm, right? Yes. Our average temp for August has been 73.6° (that’s highs and lows averaged, FYI), 4.8° above normal. The culprit: a persistant southerly flow that’s kept a feed of Gulf air in the region and warm temperatures (it’s hard to have cool weather when you have dew points hovering near 70° all the time!)

If you need a break from the Gulf summer you unknowingly signed up for, we’ll have one this week. Our temps will drop into the mid….perhaps even..gasp..low 70s!…by the mid week. Dew points will fall into the 40s and 50s and lows will nudge down to the 50° mark by Thursday morning. We’ll round this out with a dry forecast – all in all, a refreshing, pleasant week on tap, especially good with the Minnesota State Fair starting on Thursday.