MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - WESTMONT 1.1W PA JANUARY 2011 OBSERVER NATE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight (Eastern US). Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am 24-hour At Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 47 36 41 .10 4 F 2 41 19 19 .07 1 3 30 15 25 T 4 37 20 25 5 25 15 15 T T 6 26 11 25 .05 1.3 T S 7 25 16 16 .13 3.2 3 8 17 11 11 .18 6.5 6 9 19 11 16 .03 2.0 8 10 23 10 10 T 0.1 8 11 25 6 22 .32 4.0 6 12 22 17 17 .30 7.5 9 13 21 15 16 .08 4.0 13 14 22 16 19 .04 1.2 13 15 35 18 24 .01 0.1 12 S 16 24 14 14 .01 0.5 10 17 26 9 22 .02 0.2 9 18 43 22 36 .18 1.0 9 19 36 24 24 .13 0.2 6 F,S 20 26 18 22 .38 4.0 6 21 22 3 3 .14 2.6 9 22 19 -2 15 T T 9 23 17 2 2 .01 0.5 9 24 23 -7 22 .02 0.5 9 25 35 22 28 .01 0.1 8 S 26 31 23 23 .42 4.5 8 F,S 27 28 21 23 .08 1.5 12 28 29 22 22 .07 1.5 12 29 31 21 27 .11 1.5 12 S 30 29 19 19 .01 0.1 12 31 30 8 22 .18 0.5 12 S,G AVG/SUM 27.9 14.7 20.2 3.08 49.1 7.6 <<--Mean EXT 47 -7 41/2 0.42 7.5 13 Date 1 24 1/23 26 12 14* *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 21.3°F (-4.6°F) Year precipitation to date: 3.08" (-0.73") Season snowfall to date: 92.0" Number of days with: Fog 3 Sleet 7 Glaze 1 DETAILED OBSERVATION NOTES MILD - DAMP - THEN COLDER 1: Cloudy, mild, patchy fog, periods of light rain and drizzle, mild 2: Mild overnight with light rain showers, then winter returned quickly as a sharp cold front moved through, dropping temperatures into the 20s and to 19 by midnight, gusty NW winds. 3: Becoming mostly sunny, breezy, seasonably cold 4: Mostly sunny, slightly warmer, windy at times with NW gusts 30+ mph 5: Mostly cloudy, occasional flurries, colder, blustery at times with breezes from N SNOWS RETURN 6: Mostly cloudy, periods of light snow mixed with fine ice pellets developing, light W winds becoming gusty during the evening, 1.3" of snow. 7: Snow overnight, an additional 2.2" since midnight, tapered to mostly light snow showers and flurries during the day, steady and light this evening with 3.2" for the day, also breezy. 8: More snow overnight, another 3.5" by 8am. Snow was dry and fluffy only .11" water. Light snow and snow showers, gusty W winds, blowing snow, blustery and cold. Snow was steady and moderate at times late this evening. 6.5" snow fell today, bringing the storm total to 11" 9: Light snow & blowing snow overnight. Very cold & blustery, strong NW winds. Flurries and light snow showers all day, little additional accumulation. 2.0" snow only .03" water. 10: Flurries or very light snow overnight and through the morning, then partly cloudy, still cold, light/variabe winds. MORE SNOW 11: Cold overnight low 6 F. Cloudy and cold with light SE winds and flurries, then a period of moderate to heavy snow from about 4pm-6pm, nearly 3" fell in those 2 hours. Light but steady snow continued the remainder of the evening. 4.0" by midnight. 12: Became windy overnight with snow continuing and blowing snow developing. Another 2.5" by 7am. Snow of varying intensity through the day, cold, windy, blustery, blowing snow. Daily total 5.5" by 5pm, 7.5" by about midnight, storm total now 11.5". 13: More snow overnight 2.5" by 7am and 3.0" by 9am with snow tapering to flurries. Flurries and light snow showers through the day with occasional peaks of sun, breezy. 4.0" snow. This was one of the driest snows I've ever measured, melting down to only .08" water. 14: Flurries and occasional light snow showers, continued cold, little wind. 1.2" snow. 15: Cloudy, strong SW winds developing and becoming warmer than expected with a high of 35. Some light snow flurries and ice pellets late this evening. 16: Breezy and colder with light snow showers this morning, followed by partial clearing and diminishing winds. 17: Mostly cloudy, cold especially AM, light S to SE breezes. Very light snow late evening. 18: Light snow overnight, ending pre-dawn. Cloudy early, becoming partly sunny and mild in the afternoon. Cloudy again by sunset, light rain late this evening. 19: Periods of light rain overnight, patchy fog, breezy with slowly falling temperatures and occasional drizzle or light ice pellets, mixing with very light snow, only 0.2" snow/ice. We were supposed to get up to 3" of snow, but nearly all of it was to our north. SNOW - WIND - VERY COLD 20: A thin overcast, light snow arrived as predicted around 4pm and became moderate and steady through the evening with 4" falling by midnight .38" of water. 21: Light snow overnight, with variable clouds and occasional snow showers during the day. Windy and quite cold with temperatures falling, winds subsided by evening with partly cloudy skies. Temperatures dropped to 3 F by midnight. 2.6" more snow, 6.6" total. 22: Partly cloudy overnight and very cold with a morning low of -2 F. Skies became sunny by late morning and remained clear all day, still cold, becoming cloudy again this evening. 23: Very light snow or flurries overnight, 0.5" accumulation. Variably cloudy skies, breezy blustery & cold with AM flurries. Becoming fair and very cold after sunset. 24: Frigid overnight low -7 F, coldest reading in over 2 years. Partly cloudy this morning, gradually becoming mostly cloudy with very light PM snow, again only a light coating. 25: A few flurries overnight with temperatures gradually rising, overcast. A few periods of very light ice pellets or drizzle. Milder today with a high of 35. MORE SNOW 26: Some light snow very early this morning (0.5"). Moderate snow developed by mid-day, gradually tapering off after sunset to flurries by 8pm. 4.5" of snow for the day. The snow was occasionally mixed with sleet and was relatively heavy and wet, causing lots of wrecks in the area. Opposite usual pattern - heaviest snows S/E of the Allegheny Front. 27: Light snow showers overnight and through much of the day, with a few brief breaks of sun in between showers. Breezy and blustery at times, 1.5" more snow for a storm total 6.0" 28: Flurries and occasional light snow showers all day and evening 1.5" more snow today. 29: Flurries and occasional light snow showers overnight (1.0" by 8am). Occasional light snow showers mixed with small ice pellets at times. Again, 1.5" of snow/ice. 30: Flurries overnight, ending this morning. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, light variable winds. ICE STORM BEGINS 31: Fair and cold this morning. Increasing PM clouds, light SE winds, periods of sleet mixed with freezing rain from mid-evening on .18" of precip and 0.5" of sleet by midnight. The light freezing rain accumulated about 1/8" on almost everything overnight into Feb 1. This was despite temperatures in the low 20s, normally way cold enough for snow. MONTHLY SUMMARY January lived up to its expectations and more, with very cold, blustery conditions and nearly constant snows through the month. Much like December, it was even colder than normal, after a deceptively mild start. New Year's Day was the mildest day of the month, and the only day with no sub-freezing temperatures. There were an unusual amount of days with sub-freezing max temperatures. Throw in a couple frigid sub-zero readings, and it was indeed a cold month and the 3rd consecutive January with below normal temperatures and above normal snowfall. Despite abundant snowfall, precipitation was below normal in January for only the 2nd time in the last 10 years. Much of the snow was light and fluffy, with a few wetter snows thrown in. After a nearly snow-less first week, heavy lake effect snows fell the 7th-9th. The most sub- stantial snow event occurred from the 11th-13th with 15.5", 7.5" on the 12th. Significant snows fell the 20th and early 21st and again the 26th, when the outer fringes of a powerful, fast-moving Nor' Easter that slammed the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coast with heavy ice and snow accumulations, high winds and even some thundersnow, passed through. The month ended cold and icy, with the leading edge of another very strong winter storm affecting the area late on the 31st. The winter of 2010-2011 had a tough act to follow, and thus far has packed quite a punch again.