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)