MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - WESTMONT 1.1W PA OCTOBER 2008 OBSERVERS NATE & STEVE 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 24-hour At Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 48 45 .17 2 46 42 .01 3 50 44 .01 4 55 42 .04 5 55 39 F 6 54 44 7 57 36 F, first frost 8 58 44 .20 F 9 63 54 .03 10 65 45 F 11 67 45 12 70 45 13 68 46 14 72 46 15 68 58 .17 F 16 62 48 .03 17 48 38 18 48 31 19 52 29 20 54 29 21 45 37 .10 22 42 35 23 51 29 24 48 38 .13 25 48 39 .53 26 55 38 27 42 34 .19 28 37 34 .22 0.4 S 29 34 28 .24 3.0 2 30 41 27 2 31 56 28 1 AVG/SUM 53.5 39.3 2.07 3.4 0.2 <<--Mean EXT 72 27 0.53 3.0 2 Date 14 30 25 29 29 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 46.4 F Year precipitation to date: 47.54" Season snowfall to date: 3.4" Number of days with: Fog 5 Sleet 1 DETAILED OBSERVATION NOTES 1: Mostly overcast with intermittent light rain through the afternoon & evening hours 2: Drizzle overnight, mostly cloudy, breezy, continued cool 3: Overcast with a period of drizzle this morning, then partial clearing in the afternoon with light breezes from NW 4: Light rain shower overnight. Variably to mostly cloudy skies during the day with light W winds 5: Dense fog early then became sunny and pleasant with light W winds 6: Overcast to partly cloudy skies during the morning with gradual clearing during the afternoon FIRST FROST 7: Cool morning with dense valley fog, widespread patchy frost (first of season) then a sunny, mild and pleasant afternoon 8: Mostly cloudy with moderate rain beginning at 6pm then light rain and drizzle through most of the evening (.20") 9: Light overnight showers (.03"). Overcast skies early then clearing skies 10: Patchy fog early, then clear & sunny with near calm winds 11: Clear, sunny and mild with light E winds 12: Sunny and mild with light S winds and a few high Cirrus 13: Partly cloudy early, then variably to mostly cloudy skies, light winds 14: Clear this morning with skies becoming variably to mostly cloudy again, winds from W with gusts 15-20 mph, mild temperatures 15: Overcast and breezy virtually all day with a couple of showers at 4:30 and 6:30pm producing .17" rain 16: Brief pre-dawn showers with some light rain and drizzle through the mid-day hours. Breezy with temperatures steadily falling through the day 17: Overcast and cool, with partial clearing late this evening after 10pm 18: Overcast in the morning with light N winds, skies becoming partly cloudy during the afternoon 19: Clear, sunny skies all day with light NW winds 20: Clear and sunny with a few passing clouds 21: Overnight light rain, variably cloudy, cool and windy with NW gusts 30+ mph, very brief shower at 4:15pm 22: Cool, overcast early with gradual clearing through the day and light N winds 23: Clear/sunny skies with an increase in wind during the late afternoon/early evening and skies becoming partly cloudy at times after sunset 24: Overcast with strong S breezes at times and a few brief glimpses of sun. Rain at 10:30pm, ended at 11:30pm .13" fell. 25: Windy overnight with occasional light rain. Light to moderate steadier rain during the morning hours, ending around noon. Much less than expected .53" more rain fell today. Became partly cloudy late this evening 26: Clear early with gusty SW winds, mostly sunny skies through the day, heavy clouds moved in from 5-7pm with some distant lightning but no thunder. Clearing again after 8pm 27: Overnight light rain (.17"). Breezy and mostly sunny, becoming partly to mostly cloudy with a late evening shower (another .02" rain) WINTER ARRIVES 28: Overnight light rain, overcast skies during the day and windy with NNW gusts 30+ mph and spits of snow and sleet. Moderate to heavy snow developed after 8pm but only a bit of slushy accumulation due to warm ground 29: Overnight snow showers with snow finally accumulating ~2" by 7am. Strong NW winds, blustery and cold with a high of only 34 F and overcast skies. Occasional snow showers throughout the day and evening yielded another inch of snowfall. 30: A few clouds around sunrise and cold, becoming clear and sunny, still cool but much calmer winds 31: Clear and sunny all day with occasionally gusty SW winds and milder temperatures MONTHLY SUMMARY October began and ended on a cool note, with slighty below normal temperatures overall. The second week was by far the warmest, and the final week the coldest. In general, we saw the predictable trend towards falling temperatures and the season's first frost early in the month (7th) with freezing temperatures by the 18th. There were two days with highs in the 30s (28th and 29th), which is unusually cold for October. Average temperatures this month were 46.4 F, 9.5 degrees colder than last October, which was the warmest October in recent records. Precipitation was also below normal, and the weather pattern was fairly "boring" with many cool, clear nights and crisp sunny days, and several weak frontal passages. The final week, however, saw a more interesting weather pattern, with one low that moved from the Ohio Valley to the northeast on the 24th-25th that brought moderate rains (though far less than predicated) and a bombing coastal low, which, in its wake, brought cold northwest winds off a warm Lake Erie and an early season Lake Effect snow event to much of northern and western PA, with over 3 inches falling on the 28th-29th.