Weather Information
Climate information for a location is typically given with a temperature section, precipitation section, and a wind section. Here are some basic descriptions of some of the things that you may run into when deciphering climate data:
Temperature
Temperature values that you may see include high temperatures, low temperatures, average or mean temperatures, record high temperatures, record low temperatures, record high minimum temperatures, and record low minimum temperatures.
- High Temperature - Maximum temperature on a given day (12AM to 11:59PM)
- Low Temperature - Minimum temperature on a given day
- Average/mean Temperature - High+Low divided by 2, or the 24 hour average temperature for a given day
- Record Temperature - The most extreme temperature ever recorded for the date (year of record typically accompanies this value)
- Record High Minimum - The warmest low temperature ever recorded for a given day
- Record Low Maximum - The coolest high temperature ever recorded for a given day
Precipitation
Precipitation is typically given in inches of liquid. Snowfall is also given as a value in inches, but remember that snow includes a lot of air. (In our part of the country, 10-12 inches of snowfall often equals one inch of liquid.)
Record precipitation is the greatest amount of liquid measured in a given day. Daily average precipitation is the average amount of liquid for a given day (although this is based on dividing monthly averages by the number of days- daily precipitation is very random is variable in nature.
You may see yearly precipitation given in two ways. “Since January 1” is commonly given as the calendar-year liquid value measured. This covers a year from January 1 through December 31. “Since October 1” is given as the water-year liquid value measured. The water year was defined to better match precipitation trends with agricultural and hydrological community needs. The water year starts October 1 and runs through September 30. The calendar and water year values are totals up to the given date and often are given with the average value. A positive or negative number often follows these totals. This is the current moisture surplus or deficit — comparing the actual numbers to the average totals.
Wind
Average wind velocity for a date is given in miles-per-hour. This value adds all hourly wind recorded values and then divides by the 24 total hours in a day.
The maximum gust is also usually provided.
Direction is given in compass degrees. This is an average direction over a 24 hour period. North is 0 degrees, east 90, south 180, and west 270.