Summarizing Meteorological Winter

Details

Created on Tuesday, 10 May 2022 17:43

Written by Robert Koenig

AROUND THE NEK - Spring has been above average for most categories here in the Northeast Kingdom. More specifically looking at some of the data from the National Weather Service, St. Johnsbury has been above average in almost every category so far this meteorological spring.

Before breaking down the numbers, meteorologists keep records based on our own designated seasons. These follow the months in the year, with meteorological spring including March, April, and May; meteorological summer featuring June, July, and August; meteorological fall includes September, October, and November; with meteorological winter rounding things out with December, January, and February.

Having sorted out the seasons, looking at some of the numbers from the month of March, the average precipitation amount is 2.47 inches. This average is based on the 1991 to 2020 climate database, which has computed averages from that 30-year stretch. This gives a good idea as to what to expect for rainfall compared to what we saw in the past 30 or so years. This year we were able to pick up 2.09 inches, which is 0.38 inches less than average. While we were slightly on the drier side, the good news is that there wasn't much of an impact because of precipitation. In terms of temperatures, the average high during the month of March is 42.2 degrees, and the average high for this March was 44.3, putting it 2.1 degrees warmer than the average high temperature. The average high temperature wasn't the only thing that was warmer during the month of March, the average low temperature was also warmer at 23.0 degrees compared to 19.9 degree average. That's a good 3.1-degree increase in average temperature compared to the average.

April had us get rid of the precipitation deficit that March had started spring off with. The average precipitation amount during the month of April is usually 3.15 inches. We were well above that during this April receiving 4.32 inches of rain. This was a good 1.17 inches over the expected average precipitation for the month. This more than double makes up for the deficit left during the month of March, which wasn't a bad thing in terms of helping the drought situation. In terms of temperatures. The average high for the month of April is usually 56.7, and we were actually cooler than that with this year's average high of 55.4 degrees. This was only 1.3 degrees cooler on average, which is less of a decrease in average temperature compared to March's increase in average temperatures. We did however see an increase in the average low temperature, with the 30-year average of 32.0 being 1.2 degrees less than the 33.2-degree average we had this year. This warming trend continues to be observed in low temperatures month after month, with nights not getting as cold during the entire year.

Finally looking at the month of May. While we're not completely through the month, we are almost halfway. The average rainfall expected during the month of May is 3.76 inches. We have been well below that so far this month with 0.39 inches of precipitation. In terms of temperatures, don't expect the averages so far this month to be close to the 30-year averages, since May is a month where the region sees a wide variance in temperature from the start of the month compared to the end of the month. Our average high temperature for this time of year is 69.8, which is not far off from this year's average high temperature of 65.2. There's a bigger gap in between the low temperatures, with the average low temperature being 43.6, while this month's average low temperature so far is 35.1 degrees.

Overall the precipitation that we've seen has left parts of the Northeast Kingdom designated as slightly dry by the United States Drought Monitor. This is much better than what we were seeing this time last year, as much of the state was under a moderate drought during that time. This year, it's just the section of abnormally dry conditions here in the Northeast Kingdom that's the only impact that the state is seeing. While this does not appear to be a concern heading into the summer months at this point, it's certainly something to be aware of, especially since this month has been trending on the drier side so far. For more information on the climatological data, check out the National Weather Service's Climate Date Page. For more information on drought conditions, head over to the National Drought Mitigation Center's website.