Fall 2013 Summary

A wet fall that was about average for temperature

Breaking the pattern of the last few fall seasons, we just experienced one that was 0.1 degrees below average but still within the average range.  In the 15 years of the records at the UW weather station, we have only had 2 fall seasons that were colder than average.

It was dry for the first few weeks of the fall, then the rest of October was very wet and the rest of season was pretty much average.  The total was 282.9 mm compared to the average of 218.1 mm, this is in the above average range, but we only have to go back a couple of years to find a wetter one.


Summary for Fall 2013:
Maximum Temperature 24.0°C
Minimum Temperature -24.1°C
Average Daily High Temperature 8.2°C (Long term average 8.3 °C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -0.6°C  (Long term average -0.5 °C)
Total Precipitation 282.9 mm (Long term average 218.1 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1970-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

November 2013 Summary

A cold and dry month

For the first time since April, the overall temperature was below average, 1.2 degrees below to be exact, making it the coldest November since 1996.  The high temperature on the 24th was only -6.1°C, making it about 9 degrees colder than average for that day.  The last time we had a day that was that much below average was back in May.

With only 48.8 mm of precipitation in November, it was only the second time this year that we have had a drier than average month (the average is 82.3 mm).  The 3 cm of snow that fell was less than the 14 cm seen on average.

So here is the deal, we are still less than the record year for total precipitation, but we are also looking at some of the precipitation readings from this year that are a bit suspect.  Examining the data from other rain gauges in the area, the readings generally agree, however some of the bigger events may have some problems.  We hope to have a resolution of this situation by the end of the year.


Summary for November 2013:
Maximum Temperature 15.6°C
Minimum Temperature -13.6°C
Average Daily High Temperature 4.8°C (Long term average 5.9°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -3.0°C (Long term average -1.6°C)
Total Precipitation 48.8 mm (Long term average 82.3 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

October 2013 Summary

A warm month that was the second wettest ever in the region

It might be hard to believe with the cold end to the month, but overall it was almost 2 degrees warmer than average.  There was quite a difference between the first 10 days of the month, at about 2 degrees below average, and the first 20 days, which were about 4 degrees above average.

The temperature went below zero for the first time since the spring during the morning of October 29th.  The last freezing temperature we saw was back on April 26th, resulting in a growing season of 186 days, the longest we have seen at the UW weather station.

Back in July, the 173.0 mm was the most ever seen in the 15 year history of the UW weather station, but now October comes along with 181.4 mm.  The last day was the wettest of the month (37.3 mm) and also the wettest single October day in UW weather station history.  Incidentally, it was also the second wettest October since records began in the region about 100 yeas ago (wettest was 1958 with 190.8 mm).

After such a wet of month, this is now far and away the most precipitation in the first 10 months of the year and we are closing in on the wettest year.  At the end of October we are at 1085.7 mm, which means we only need about 100 mm in the last 2 months to make it the wettest year ever in the area.


Summary for October 2013:
Maximum Temperature 24.0°C
Minimum Temperature -3.2°C
Average Daily High Temperature 14.9°C (Long term average 13.2°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 5.1°C (Long term average 2.9°C)
Total Precipitation 181.4 mm (Long term average 67.1 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

Are you ready for the darkest morning of the year?

The official sunrise time for Waterloo on November 2nd will be 7:59 am, because we go back to standard time on Sunday morning, it turns out that this will be the latest the sun will rise this season (also later than anytime in 2013, but also later than in January of 2014 as well).

Although the earth's inclination will cause the sunrise time to gradually get later and later and it will get close to 7:59 am (7:55 am in early January) it will never be as late as it will be on November 2nd.

By the way, as daylight saving time comes in well before the summer solstice, a similar thing doesn't happen 6 months from now.

September 2013 Summary

A warm month with average precipitation and a couple of crazy days

Apart from one ridiculously hot day, it was just warm the rest of the month, but this was enough to make it one degree above average overall.  More on that ridiculously hot day: On September 10th the temperature got up to 34.7°C, this was the warmest day since July 21, 2011 (36.7°C), the hottest September day since 1953 (36.7°C), and the 4th hottest September day ever in the region since records began back in 1915.

I don’t know if there has been a month like this one for precipitation, 94.1 mm of the total of 97.9 mm came during a single 24 hour period.  Since we don’t have hourly precipitation data going back past the start of the UW weather station it is hard to tell how it ranks.  Based on 2 day totals the last time we might have had this wet a 24 hour period was on July 14-15, 1985 and then maybe again back in 1968, 1954, 1927, and 1915.  By the way, the average for the month is 87.5 mm.

We have moved up in the year to date precipitation rankings and we are back up to the second wettest first 9 months of the year behind only 1940.  The numbers are 903.3 mm so far compared to the average of 685.5 mm.

PS A few words about the summer of 2013, it was a degree above average and much wetter (390.7 mm) than average (274.0 mm), but we only have to go back to 2008 to find a wetter one (416.2 mm).


Summary for September 2013:
Maximum Temperature 34.7°C
Minimum Temperature 1.6°C
Average Daily High Temperature 21.0°C (Long term average 20.0°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 9.3°C (Long term average 8.3°C)
Total Precipitation 97.9 mm (Long term average 87.5 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

What did you think of the summer?

We want to know what you thought of the summer of 2013.

Vote at the poll on top of the UW weather station blog:

http://uwweatherstation.blogspot.ca/

A September day for the record books

On September 10th the temperature got up to 34.7°C, this was the warmest day since July 21, 2011 (36.7°C), the hottest September day since 1953 (36.7°C), and the 4th hottest September day ever in the region since records began back in 1915.

August 2013 Summary

An average month for both temperature and precipitation
It was the story of two different halves of the month, the daytime highs were colder than average for the first half of August (although the daily lows were about average).  The second half of the month was warm, putting the overall temperature at 0.6 degrees above average.  However, this is still within the average range, albeit at the top end.

The month started out very wet with almost 30 mm in the first 2 days, this would end up being close to half of the total for the month.  There was also a period of 17 days with less than 5 mm, but a few storms late in the month put the total just into the average range.

We are now at a total for the year of 805.4 mm, well above the average 594.3 mm.  This means we have fallen a bit behind and now it is the third wettest first 8 months of year since records began in the area around 1915.

Summary for August 2013:
Maximum Temperature 30.4°C
Minimum Temperature 8.4°C
Average Daily High Temperature 25.0°C (Long term average 24.7°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 13.6°C (Long term average 12.6°C)
Total Precipitation 63.6 mm (Long term average 87.0 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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July 2013 Summary

A hot month that was also the wettest July since 1991

Although July finished off with a cold snap, this was offset by the very hot start making it a warmer than average month.  Overall it was about a degree above average, but this was all because of the daily low temperatures that were 2 degrees above average, as the daily highs were very close to average.

A dramatic change in temperature occurred when a cold front moved through the area on the 19th bringing with it winds that caused a lot of damage from southern Ontario to Quebec.  From 5:15 pm to 5:30 pm that day, the temperature dropped almost 9.5 degrees, this was the largest 15 minute temperature drop in the 15 year history of the UW weather station.  Also interesting is that it only got down to 24.7 C the morning of the 19th.  This would make it the one of the warmest nights on record, however as the temperature dropped that evening the official low for the day was less than 20.  I will have to do some more digging to find the actual warmest night on record.

There were not that many days with precipitation in July, but when it happened, it really came down with 4 days over 30 mm resulting to a total of 173.1 mm for the month.  This was almost double the average of 92.9 mm and the most since 1991 (when we had 182.6 mm).

This wet month puts the total for the year at 741.9 mm, well above the average for the end of July of 509.0 mm.  This also makes it the second wettest first seven month of the year since records began in the region almost 100 years ago, only behind 1947 at 764.5 mm.

Summary for July 2013:
Maximum Temperature 32.6°C
Minimum Temperature 8.7°C
Average Daily High Temperature 26.1°C (Long term average 26.0°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 15.9°C (Long term average 13.8°C)
Total Precipitation 172.1 mm (Long term average 92.9 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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June 2013 Summary

A soggy month with average temperatures and a very wet first half of 2013

It was going along as a slightly cool month, but around the official start of summer it warmed up to put the overall average at 0.66°C higher than the average. However, that is still a few hundredths of a degree less than the 0.7°C we use to define the start of the above average temperature range.

And how did we come up with 0.7°C? Well the method we use at the UW weather station is to take 30 years of average monthly temperatures, order them smallest to largest, then the bottom 10 define the below average range and the top 10 define the above average range. The middle 10 are of course what defines the average range. There are differences between the high and low temperatures and differences for each month, but we just simplify things and use the average value of 0.7°C for all months.

For precipitation, it was looking like a typical month until we got hit with the largest one day precipitation in over a year. On the 28th we received 43.8 mm, with 16.8 mm of that coming between 2:15 and 2:45 pm. However, as a result of the type of precipitation we get in the area during the summer, there were areas that likely had even more intense precipitation that caused many flooded streets and parking lots in the area.

The total for the month was 120.9 mm compared to an average of 80 mm. Although this is well above average, we only have to go back to 2010 to find a wetter June when we had 130.3 mm.

Now that we are halfway through the year, we can see how it stacks up: For temperature it was 0.43 C above average, nothing too significant there. However, the 568.8 mm of precipitation is the 4th wettest first 6 months of the year, only behind 1947 (624.8 mm), 2011 (602.0 mm), and 1953 (583.9 mm). Also quite a contrast to last year when we only had 316.3 mm.

Summary for June 2013:
Maximum Temperature 30.5°C
Minimum Temperature 5.5°C
Average Daily High Temperature 22.8°C (Long term average 23.6°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 13.4°C (Long term average 11.3°C)
Total Precipitation 120.9 mm (Long term average 80.0 mm)
(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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Odd spread in the temperature forecast

Usually the Environment Canada and the Weather Network forecast only differ by one or maybe two degrees.  But as of Wednesday evening, the two agencies are quite far apart from each other in their predictions of the forecasted highs for the upcoming weekend.

Environment Canada has a high of 29 for Saturday and 30 from Sunday to Tuesday, however The Weather Network only has us going up to 26 for all of those days.

June 28 rainfall

We got some significant precipitation in the area on June 28th.  At the UW weather station we recorded 43.8 mm during the day, the most intense part occurred between 2:15 and 2:45 pm when 16.8 mm came down.

This translates to what is referred to as a 1 in 2 year rainfall, that is not something that normally result in the numerous flooded streets and parking lots in the region.  Thus it is probable that a storm of this nature had areas of more intense rain that caused the localized flooding.

Spring 2013 Summary

The very typical Spring for both temperature and precipitation

There were the usual temperature swings during this season that borders winter and summer, but it was never really hot or cold for a very long time. Overall it was just 0.2 degrees colder than average which puts it solidly in the average range.

After a slow start to the spring precipitation (it was dry until the first week of April), the rest of the season was wetter with the total coming in on the high end of the average
range.

Summary for Spring 2013:
Maximum Temperature 28.6 °C
Minimum Temperature -9.2 °C
Average Daily High Temperature 15.1 °C (Long term average 15.6 °C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 4.8 °C (Long term average 4.2 °C)
Total Precipitation 256.4 mm (Long term average 219.5 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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May 2013 Summary

A warm month with average precipitation

If you take a look at the graphs for this month, you can see that the temperature went back and forth between extended warm and cold spells.  As the warm spells lasted longer than the cold ones, it was 1.3 degrees hotter than average for the month overall.  This makes it the first warmer than average month since January.

Most of the precipitation for the month happened during just 3 days (the 10th, 28th and 29th).  This was enough to make it almost a perfectly average month (73.3 mm in May compared to the average of 75.7 mm).

Even with this average month, we are still about 100 mm over the precipitation we expect at this time of the year (340.2 mm compared to 448.3 mm).

Summary for May 2013:
Maximum Temperature 28.6°C
Minimum Temperature 0.5°C
Average Daily High Temperature 20.1°C (Long term average 18.9°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 7.9°C (Long term average 6.6°C)
Total Precipitation 73.3 mm (Long term average 75.7 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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Will it go below zero?

The temperature will get close to freezing overnight between Sunday and Monday.

If it goes below zero it will a bit later than usual, but it was only back in 2009 when it last went below zero on the 18th of May.

April 2013 Summary

A very wet and cold April 

The temperature was back and forth all month, sometimes feeling like summer and then winter within the space of a few days. Nothing demonstrates this better than a high of 25.3°C on the 18th that was followed 2 days later by a high of only 3.0°C.

The cold temperatures won out in the end as overall it was 0.8 degrees below average. This means it was the third colder than average month in a row, something we haven’t seen in 2 years.

April was a very wet month highlighted by 66.3 mm of precipitation between the 8th and the 12th. When you add it all up we got 118.9 mm which was well above the average of 76.9 mm.

Another wet month means that the total precipitation we have seen for the year (374.6 mm) is well above the average for the end of April (264.4 mm). Last year it took until August 10th to get this much.

I hate to jinx it, but let’s say the snowfall season is actually over (we only measured 1 cm this in April), the total was 152 cm putting us just below the average of 159.5 cm.

Summary for April 2013:
Maximum Temperature 25.3°C
Minimum Temperature -7.3°C
Average Daily High Temperature 10.3°C (Long term average 11.4°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 0.1°C (Long term average 0.6°C)
Total Precipitation 118.9 mm (Long term average 76.9 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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We have a winner!

Congratulations to Scott Bacon who was the winner of this year's UW weather station contest.  In second place goes to Elisa McBride.

In celebration, anyone who is near the Waterloo campus can meet at E2-3321 at 4:30pm for a walk to the Grill Restaurant at the University Plaza for an ice cream cone (sadly, our prize budget does not allow us to buy ice cream for everyone).

The risk of the severe thunderstorm late this afternoon could also make for a dramatic walk.

The thunderstorm blew in Wednesday evening as predicted and now Waterloo Region is getting a thorough soaking.  If the forecasts hold, we should record our first 20 degree temperature of 2013 sometime on Thursday.  Stay tuned!

Coldest temperature until the fall?

I will make the bold prediction that the -7.0C this morning will most likely be the coldest temperature we will see until next fall.

March 2013 Summary

A cold and dry March

Apart from a warm week where it hit double digits one day, the rest of the month was colder than average.  However, it was never really that cold, so overall it was just 0.8 degrees below average.

It was reasonably wet the first half of the month, but then the taps turned off and only 2 mm of the month’s total of 43.5 mm fell during the last 10 days.  As this was the first dry month, the amount of precipitation so far this year at 259.2 mm is still far above the average of 187.6 mm.

After a very snowy February, only 13 cm of the white stuff came down in March, well below the average of 21 cm.  This puts the total for the snowfall season at 151 cm, which is just a bit below the average total of 159.5 cm.

Summary for March 2013:

Maximum Temperature 11.9°C
Minimum Temperature -15.3°C
Average Daily High Temperature 1.7°C (Long term average 3.5°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -5.5°C (Long term average -5.6°C)
Total Precipitation 43.5 mm (Long term average 70.6 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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Winter 2012/13 Summary

The warmer than average winter that was very wet

Although the winter was almost evenly split between the number of colder and warmer than average days, when it was warm is was very warm, but when it was cold it was only a bit cold.  As a result, the temperature was 0.9 degrees above average for the entire season.

The 272.5 mm was the wettest winter we have had since 1973/74 (when we had 279.9 mm) and much higher than the average of 184.5 mm.

The lower than average snow at the beginning of the snowfall season was offset by the second snowiest February giving us a total snowfall total so far of 150 cm which is pretty close to the annual average of 159.5 cm.


Summary for Winter 2012/13:
Maximum Temperature 14.2°C
Minimum Temperature -24.6°C
Average Daily High Temperature -0.7°C (Long term average –1.4°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -8.7°C (Long term average -9.8°C)
Total Precipitation 272.5 mm (Long term average 184.5 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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February 2013 Summary

The first colder than average month in almost 2 years, that was also very wet and the second snowiest on record

Although we have had some months that were slightly coder than average, they were still within what we define as the average range.  At 1.3 degrees below average, it was the first month actually in the colder than average range since March of 2011.  Although it was never very cold for more than a few days in a row, it was just a little bit colder than average a lot of days.

It was a very wet month with 97.5 mm of total precipitation which is almost double the average of 51.3 mm.  It was only looking like a slightly higher than average month, but during the last 3 days when a major storm came through, it added another 32 mm to the total.

This was the second snowiest February since records began in the area in 1914, the total this year was 93 cm was only behind 1924 (132.6 cm) and was 3 times more than average.

It has also been really wet in the first two months of the year, at 212.2mm it is almost twice as much the average of 115.7 mm.  Last year we didn’t get to that total until June 1st.

Summary for February 2013:
Maximum Temperature 4.9°C
Minimum Temperature -24.6°C
Average Daily High Temperature -2.6°C (Long term average –1.9°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -12.4°C (Long term average -10.5°C)
Total Precipitation 97.5 mm (Long term average 51.3 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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2013 UW Weather Station Contest has started!

The annual UW weather station contest has started!

Has it been 15 years already?

Click here to put in your guess and get all the details of the contest.

You have to get your entry in by Tuesday, February 26th at 2:00 pm.

January 2013 Summary

January was warm and ended up being the 5 th wettest in history


In the battle between warm spells and cold spells, the warm spells had the advantage 2 to 1, making the overall temperature 3.3 degrees above average.  Although there were 3 days more than 10 degrees below average, they were offset by 5 days more than 12 degrees above.  The high of 14.2°C on the 30
th was tied for the second warmest January day we have seen in the region since records began almost 100 years ago.

It looked like it was going to be just an average month for precipitation, but over 50 mm in the last 4 days shot the total to 114.7 mm.  This is well above the average of 64.4 mm and made it the 5 th  wettest January since records began in the region.

The total snowfall of 22.5 cm was only about half of 43.5 cm January average, this shows that most of the month’s precipitation fell as rain.

Summary for January 2013:
Maximum Temperature 14.2°C
Minimum Temperature -20.0°C
Average Daily High Temperature 0.2°C (Long term average –3.1°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -6.9°C (Long term average -11.0°C)
Total Precipitation 114.7 mm (Long term average 64.4 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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Second warmest January day

The high of 14.2°C on January 30th was the 2nd warmest January day we have ever seen in the region since records began back in 1914, well at least tied for the 2nd warmest.

The warmest January day was 14.9°C on January 13th, 2005 and the second warmest was also 14.2°C on January 14th, 1995.

2 warm days in a row

If we get the predicted 2 days in a row with temperatures above 10 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, it would be the first time this would happen during the month of January since 2008.

Coldest day for almost 2 years

The -20.0°C we saw on the morning of Wednesday, January 23rd.  This was colder than any day in 2012 and you have to back to the low of -20.2°C on February 23rd of 2011 to find a colder day.  (OK it was a month less than 2 years, but still a pretty long time)

2012 Summary

The weather story for the region in 2012 was the consistent warmth we saw during the entire year.  In particular, the incredibly hot March that was over 7.5 degrees warmer than average making it the warmest ever in the region since records began back in 1914.  It also included a week of temperatures above 20 degrees and the high temperature of 26.4°C on the 22nd was the warmest March temperature on record.

Although many people enjoyed this early taste of spring, many trees and plants that started to come out of hibernation during this period were damaged when more typical temperatures came back in April.

Overall, it was the second warmest year we have seen in the region with an average temperature of 8.93°C.  This was only slightly less than the record set back in 1998 of 8.98°C.  However, the period between July of 2011 and June of 2012 was the warmest 12 month period ever with an average temperature of 9.33°C.

Other notable temperature stories from the year were: February being the second warmest on record, only 2 colder than average days in July, and November being the end of 19 months in a row of warmer than average months.

On the precipitation side, 6 of the 7 months between February to August were all drier than average, so although we had a few wetter than average months during the fall, overall it was a dry year.  We had 782.7 mm compared to the average of 904.0 mm making it the driest year since 2007.  It may have been a close to a record dry year if not for September at 120.5 mm and the second wettest October ever in the region at 156.4 mm.

The wettest day of the year was June 1st with 56.7 mm of precipitation, this was more than came down during any month between February to August (if you take the first out of the total for June).

With the warm temperatures and low precipitation it is not surprising that the snowfall total at 86.5 cm was a just a little over half of the average of 159.5 cm.  This was the least snowy calendar year since 1982 when we only had 77.8 cm.

One thing to keep in mind is that the kind of year we saw in 2012 might be something we will have to get used to in the future.  According to many of the future climate models what we saw this year (warmer temperatures and drier summers) will be more common.  Not that every year will be exactly like this, but the unique weather this year may not be so unique in the future.


Summary for 2012 (averages are calculated from 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport):
Average Daily High Temperature: 14.31 °C (average 11.89 °C)
Average Daily Low Temperature: 4.32 °C  (average 1.71 °C)
Total Precipitation: 782.7 mm (average 904.0 mm)

Click on the image below to see the temperature chart:


Click on the image below to see the precipitation chart:

December 2012 Summary

December was warm with average precipitation

The month ended on a cold note, but this was more than offset by an extremely warm start, making for an overall temperature that was 3.5 degrees above average. The high temperature of 14.7°C on the 4th was the warmest December temperature since 2001 (16.7°C on the 5th).

After a wet start (25.6 mm on the 2nd) the rest of the month had lots of days with some precipitation, however the total of 81.8 mm was still within the average range. We saw 16.5 cm of snow during the month which is less than half of the average of 38.5 cm.

Summary for December 2012:

Maximum Temperature 14.7°C
Minimum Temperature -11.6°C
Average Daily High Temperature 2.8°C (Long term average -0.4°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -3.2°C (Long term average -7.5°C)
Total Precipitation 81.8 mm (Long term average 71.1 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

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