Rex Trulove
Very often, people get caught in the trap of thinking myopically. That is, they observe what is going on around them, locally, and tend not to think about what other people, located some distance away, are experiencing. This reduces our worldview to typically a few square miles, which is obviously incorrect. That is what this weather challenge is about; to give everyone the chance to describe their weather. This can be done daily, a few times a week, or weekly, but the point of it is to give everyone a chance to compare the local weather you are observing with the weather observations of other people who live outside your area.
This should be fun and enlightening. Start by giving your general location so others can visualize the differences in your area and theirs. I’ll start this off and this should give some idea of what I have in mind for this challenge. Just post what weather information you have. You don’t need to go into tremendous detail if you don’t want to. The point is to simply inform others of your weather.
I’m in northwest Montana, about 60 miles south of the Canadian border and 40 miles east of the Idaho border.
When I got up this morning (9 October 2019) at around 5 am, there was about a half-inch of snow on the ground that fell overnight. Our temperature is 29° F and it is too dark to see if snow is currently falling.
Our low temperature is currently 5° below average and our predicted high for the day is supposed to be 38°, which would be 23° below average for the high temperature. The low-temperature forecast for tonight is for temperatures of 18°, which would be 16° below normal.
It is also quite humid. Our humidity is sitting at 93% and the dew point is only about a degree and a half below our present temperature, so some nearby areas may have frost. Winter weather advisories are in place, but it is warm enough that road conditions aren’t bad yet and the snow is likely to start melting off as soon as the sun rises.
How is the weather in your area?
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Are you going to take this challenge?
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Yes
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No
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maybe
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Great idea Rex, I am in! I do not want to trade our weather, it’s just finally nice enough not to be scorched, time to hike here. Time for a good ole fire and some hot chocolate for you!! So, how does this years snow smell? lol I bet it is crisp and fresh even with high humidity. Means big fluffy snowflakes I hope!
It hasn’t been cold enough to be crisp yet. The snow has high water content and it is really soggy. The flakes haven’t been real big, either, though. It has sort of been the snow equivalent of a constant drizzle, so the flakes have been small. When we get big flakes, the snow adds up fast.
Sounds like the snows we would get in the springtime in AR. Muddy messy types of snow. I hope you have a mild winter, not so sure with the way things are going.
I have a suspicion that we’ll have well above average snowfall this year. Last year was relatively mild until February and usually, if we have a mild winter, the following winter, we get slammed. I’ll be especially curious about what it does next month. Typically, if we have snow on the ground on Thanksgiving, we have a dry Christmas. If there isn’t snow on the ground on Thanksgiving, we normally have a white Christmas.
So let’s talk about your challenge. It actually has a name – Micro Weather.
Originally invented by a professor at USC. He actually got a bunch of students together and they created a home weather station (Bloomsky).
The intention of Microweaterh is to show and share the variations from a regional perspective. For example, you are 5 degrees below average.
In New Orleans (as of yesterday) they are 8 degrees above.
In both cases, Micro-weather shows, however, that within each area there are still variances.
That is quite true. In the winter, it is normally about 10° cooler on our front porch than at the weather station about 5 miles from here. In the summer, it is usually 10° warmer than at the weather station. Yet, we tend not to be as affected by the wind here, compared to there. The houses around here act as windbreaks.
also thermometer location. I have a lot of friends that buy a weather station and the first time we talk they say you always told me that I would be 4-5 degrees cooler than the city reading is.
I am 8 degrees warmer!
I always ask them so your thermometer is in the sun right?
Where what and why matters!
Absolutely. I make it a point to have the thermometer in a place that doesn’t get direct sunlight. In fact, if it is a bulb-type thermometer, putting it where the sunlight can hit it can easily break the thermometer by separating the fluid in the bulb and putting air bubbles in it. That isn’t as much an issue with mercury thermometers, but mercury thermometers aren’t common anymore.
i have one (the Bloomsky) station in direct sunlight. I have to have it there because it takes a video of the sky.
The other station I have is hidden. But they are digital so there is no risk in direct sunlight!
I think it’s a great idea! I really appreciate the invention of Internet. I am staying in tropical country where I don’t really understand how four seasons really are. It’s from Internet and these writing platforms that I get to understand more about the seasons and how the weather is in each season. 🙂
There is even a great deal of variation between two different locations in the temperate zone. It isn’t uncommon for us to be in the middle of a snowstorm while the southern US is hot and sunny.
An interesting new challenge.
I’m glad that other people like the idea as well.
It’s a good challenge.
I’m glad you like the idea.
Great idea, and lovely photo. It is still very mild here in England; we have only just come out of summer. We won’t get snow, most likely, till around January time, if at all.
We usually start getting snow here in November. This year, the snow arrived a bit early.
Good idea for a challenge
I rather like the idea, too. 🙂