MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD JANUARY 2012 OBSERVER SCOTT LOHR DATA COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY NATE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am DAY 24-hour Rain Snow/ Snow Special WEATHER Date Max Min Equiv Ice Depth Obs. SUMMARY 1 50 32 .02 Mostly cloudy, couple brief showers, falling temps 2 33 22 .01 0.1 Partly to mostly cloudy, PM snow showers 3 24 8 .06 1.5 1 Snow showers/squalls, very cold, very windy 4 30 7 2 Cold AM, mostly cloudy skies 5 36 30 1 Mostly cloudy 6 60 28 T Partly cloudy and much milder this afternoon 7 61 38 Sunny & very mild 8 43 28 Sunny, not as mild 9 41 28 Partly sunny 10 51 34 Partly cloudy, mild 11 37 22 1.57 F Mostly cloudy, heavy PM rain 12 46 37 .36 F Mostly cloudy with fog and rain showers 13 37 20 T T T DW Mostly cloudy, very windy, flurries, blustery 14 26 20 T Mostly cloudy 15 30 17 Partly cloudy 16 32 13 .14 0.1 F,S,G Increasing clouds, PM freezing rain/sleet 17 55 32 .19 T F,S Rain & sleet early, clearing, windy 18 32 17 T 0.1 Snow showers, little accumulation 19 37 17 .01 0.4 T Partly cloudy with a PM snow shower 20 32 18 .05 0.5 T Increasing clouds, late PM snow 21 34 27 .30 0.2 1 F,S,G AM sleet & freezing rain, mostly cloudy 22 29 22 1 Mostly cloudy 23 38 29 .06 1 Light rain early, mostly cloudy 24 52 37 T Partly to mostly cloudy, milder 25 46 32 Partly sunny 26 38 34 .33 F Periods of rain & drizzle 27 52 34 .10 F Predawn rain, clearing, windy, PM sprinkles 28 38 31 Mostly cloudy 29 44 28 .04 1.0 Partly cloudy, strong SW wind, evening snow squall 30 48 30 1 Mostly cloudy 31 64 44 Partly cloudy, very mild, strong SW winds again AVG/SUM 41.2 26.3 3.24 3.9 0.3 (avg) EXT 64 7 1.57 1.5 2 Date 31 4 11 3 4 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 33.7°F (+3.9°F) Year precipitation to date: 3.24" (+0.39") Season snowfall to date: 11.4" (-9.9") Number of days with: Fog 7 Sleet 3 Glaze 2 Damaging Winds 1 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1: Mild early with light rain, very windy with falling temps. Wind gust to 51 mph at Frostburg. 2-3: Very windy and much colder with snow showers and squalls. 1.5" snow measured on the 3rd. 4: Cold low 7 F. 6-7: Much milder with balmy highs of 60 & 61, respectively 11-12: Heavy PM rain on the 11th. More rain and showers on the 12th with dense fog. Storm total was 1.93". 13: Very strong winds & blustery with snow flurries. Wind clocked at 57 mph at Frostburg State. 16-17: Freezing rain & sleet overnight, clearing & very windy on the 17th. Very mild early then temps quickly dropped off this evening, winds shifted from SW to NW & remained gusty. 18-19: Occasional snow showers. 20-21: Snow late on the 20th, changed to sleet then freezing rain early on the 21st. 23: Light pre-dawn rain. 26-27: Rain & drizzle, ending early on the 27th with clearing skies and windy conditions again. 29: Strong SW winds; evening snow squall dropped an inch within an hour. 31: Very mild high 64 F ties the record set in 1988. Strong SW winds again. MONTHLY SUMMARY The new year 2012 was off to a mild start. January's weather was more active and variable than December, but for the most part followed suit of the previous two months, which had above normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. January's precipitation was slightly above normal, with 60% of it falling as rain on the 11th-12th when 1.93" fell. This was the heaviest 2-day precipitation event in January since the devastating flood of January 19, 1996. 2.17" of rain was recorded that morning, setting a January record, and 2.35" total fell on the 18th-19th. The middle of January 2012 brought us a couple of minor ice storms, with the last significant precip event on the 26th-27th - about a half-inch of rain. Snow was again scant, with no days over 1.5" and a monthly total of only 3.9 inches. Only 4.4" of snow has fallen here since the 7" surprise snow on October 29, 2011. Temperatures were all over the place, but mild overall. A constant parade of weak weather fronts led to frequent sharp temperature changes and strong winds. At nearby Frostburg State University there were 17 days with winds gusting 30+ mph, 7 days with wind gusts 40+ and 2 days with peak gusts over 50 mph, with a 57 mph reading on the 13th. All of the final 5 days were also very windy. Despite the lack of official wind data at this exact location, it is safe to say that January was one of the windiest months in a long time. In addition, there were 8 days that had high temperatures of 50+, but also 8 days that failed to rise above freezing. Some of these extreme opposites occurred on consecutive days. The 3rd was the coldest day of the month, with temperatures in the low 20s and an overnight low of 7. Yet 3 days later, we were in the 60s. Another cold period followed the heavy rain event of the 11th-12th, as winter returned the 13th- 16th. A high of 55 on the 17th was surrounded by readings of 32 on the 16th and 18th. January finished on a very mild note, with a tied record high of 64 on the 31st to round out the month. Additional notes/records: 11: Daily record precipitation 1.57". Old record 1.46" in 1991. Today's rain was the 3rd highest for any day in January. The top 2 were both in January 1996 (7th - 1.61" and 19th - 2.17"). 31: Daily record high of 64 F tied with 1988.