The featured chart compares the average Ames temperature for March with the following April for each year since 1893. For Ames, each April has been warmer than its preceding March. After our record setting March this year, there may have been some doubt if April would be warmer as well. The forecast has temperatures warming back up this week, but cooler weather expected again next weekend.

Voting:
Good = 40
Bad = 6

Tags:   mar   apr  

While this past March was easily the warmest on record, it was not the most humid on record as shown by the featured chart. The top chart presents the average near surface mixing ratio which is the ratio of water to dry air. By this metric, 2012 comes in a close second place to 1998. The bottom chart is the simple maximum reported dew point value for the month. In this case, 2012 ties 1990 at 63 degrees. The near term forecast has us back closer to reality with highs in the 60s and upper 50s.

Voting:
Good = 22
Bad = 6

Tags:   mar12   mar  

Numerous places over the eastern half of the country set records again on Tuesday as the epic warmth of March rolls on. The temperature was cool enough to not set another record high temperature for Des Moines and so ending the streak of six straight days with a record high. The featured chart attempts to show the daily record high temperatures for Des Moines and the year during which they were sequentially set. Of course, the first year on record shows up for each date with later years slowly building over top them. The records for this year are shown in bright red. The numerous warm days in the year 1910 show up prominently, which may be the only competition for this year to be the warmest March on record. The numeric value shown on the top of each bar indicates the number of times the daily record has been set. Kind of interesting to note the most frequent days with records set having occurred in the recent period as well, which was probably helped by an initially cold period for the first year on record.

Voting:
Good = 27
Bad = 11

Tags:   mar12   mar  

The past few days of much warmer weather has helped to eliminate much of the snow that has stuck around for most of winter. The featured chart looks at the relationship between having snow on the ground of a given day in February and then the average temperature that following March. The implication is clear, getting rid of the snow now leads to a few more degrees warmer weather in March. The chart also shows that the coldest, on average, March temperatures are when there is snow at the end of February and the warmest are when there is no snow at the beginning of the month.

Voting:
Good = 13
Bad = 6

Tags:   snowcover   feb   mar