Data Analysis

 Below documents the average temperatures from 1895 to 2012 for the northeast region in March. Every 20 years or so the average temperature for the region goes up and down. For example 1960 was a very cold year on average for the northeast but around 1980 it was quite warm. The dark line shows the average of all of the temperatures for all of the years combined. The graph shows that half of the years are above the black line and about half are below the black line. The black line is on 33.5 F which shows the average temperature from 1900-2010. In total there was a 2 degree increase in temperature from the year 1900 to 2010.





All data shown above collected from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/cag3.html

Average precipitation for the northeast region from 1895 to 2012 for March.


The precipitation graph shows that there is on average not much precipitation that falls in march, only around 3-5 inches on average with a few outliers (7 inches) and below average years. The dark line shows the average preciapition of all of the years combined. About half are above the black line and about half are below the black line. The black line is at about 3.5 inches for the average precipitation over 1900-2010.
For precipitation the total increase in precipitation






All data shown above collected from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/cag3.html




Below is an excel chart that documents the top 10 coldest years and top 10 warmest years in the northeast.

This information relates to climate change and shows that there are periods of warming trends and periods of cold trends, there is no constant warming trend for the planet nor is there a constant drop each year in temperatures. Data that the public should use could be departure from normal averages which would show how the temperatures are rising or falling with the average temperature each day/year.



Top 10 coldest years
Top 10 warmest years
1895
1902
1900
1911
1906
1921
1916
1935
1924
1946
1926
1947
1941
1975
1942
1979
1960
2009
1985
2011

As you can see the coldest years are mainly below the year 1980 except for one at 1985. The top 10 warmest are much more spread apart where 2011 and 2009 top the list in addition to 1902 and 1911.

All data shown above collected from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/cag3.html

Local climate data for Eau Claire and Minneapolis for average April temperatures
Daily climate report for Minneapolis, Eau Claire and La Crosse








As you can see, the average temperature for both Eau Claire and MSP are relatively the same throughout each day in April. However Eau Claire has more extreme lows and highs on certain days. This could be due to its isolation out in te middle of the country. MSP is located in a highly densely populated area and is subjected to urban heat islands. Addi tonally, there is a lot of blacktop in the big cities and lots of buildings to reflect heat off of.



All data was taken from http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Eau+Claire&state=WI&site=MPX&textField1=44.8212&textField2=-91.4923
 
MLPS:
TEMPERATURE (F)
 TODAY
  MAXIMUM         73    338 PM  84    1962  62     11       62
  MINIMUM         49    541 AM  24    1875  41      8       36
  AVERAGE         61                        52      9       49
PRECIPITATION (IN)
  TODAY            0.00          1.43 1908   0.10  -0.10     0.00
  MONTH TO DATE    2.69                      2.02   0.67     0.81
  SINCE MAR 1      4.09                      3.91   0.18     2.87
  SINCE JAN 1      6.16                      5.58   0.58     4.99
SNOWFALL (IN)
  TODAY            0.0           0.3  1902   0.0    0.0      0.0
  MONTH TO DATE    T                         2.2   -2.2      1.9
  SINCE MAR 1      1.3                      12.4  -11.1     10.1
  SINCE JUL 1     22.3                      53.7  -31.4     86.6
  SNOW DEPTH       0
Eau Claire:

TEMPERATURE (F)
 TODAY
  MAXIMUM         70    455 PM  88    2009  62      8       61
  MINIMUM         43    510 AM  15    1956  38      5       36
  AVERAGE         57                        50      7       49
PRECIPITATION (IN)
  TODAY            0.00          1.10 1994   0.10  -0.10     0.00
  MONTH TO DATE    3.01                      2.10   0.91     1.36
  SINCE MAR 1      4.55                      3.83   0.72     3.93
  SINCE JAN 1      6.93                      5.53   1.40     5.79
SNOWFALL (IN)
  TODAY            0.0           9.5  1893   0.0    0.0      0.0
  MONTH TO DATE    0.2                       1.7   -1.5      1.9
  SINCE MAR 1      0.7                      10.3   -9.6     10.4
  SINCE JUL 1     23.8                      46.6  -22.8     71.5
  SNOW DEPTH       0

La Crosse:
No records were available.


Below are weather history tables for Madison, Wisconsin along with line graphs showing trends for each variable listed below.










Madison:
Max Temp: 71 degrees in July

Min Temp: 16 degrees in January

Relative humidity Max: 91% in September (Morning)

Relative humidity Min: 79% in January (Morning)

Relative humidity Max73% December Afternoon
Relative humidity Min 56% May Afternoon

Precipitation Max: 4 inches in August

Precipitation Min: 1.1 inches in January and February


Below 32 degrees 30 in January

0 in July-August
Above 90 degrees

5 in July

Cloudiness:

9 clear days in July-October

5 clear days in November
11 partly cloudy days in July

6 partly cloudy days in November- February
19 cloudy days December

11 cloudy days July


Madison:

Temp.
(ºF)
Relative Humidity
(Percentage)
Extreme Temp.
(Days Per Month)
Rain
(Inches)
Cloudiness
(Days Per Month)
 
Average
A.M.
P.M.
Below
32º
Above
90º
Average
Clear
Partly
Cloudy
Cloudy
January
16.0
79%
70%
30
0
1.1
7
6
17
February
20.6
80%
67%
27
0
1.1
7
6
15
March
32.3
81%
64%
25
0
2.2
6
7
17
April
45.4
80%
57%
13
N/A
2.9
6
8
16
May
56.5
80%
56%
3
N/A
3.1
7
9
15
June
66.2
82%
58%
N/A
3
3.7
7
10
13
July
71.0
86%
60%
0
5
3.4
9
11
11
August
68.3
90%
63%
0
3
4.0
9
10
12
September
59.8
91%
64%
1
1
3.4
9
8
12
October
48.9
85%
61%
9
N/A
2.2
9
7
14
November
35.4
84%
68%
21
0
2.1
5
6
18
December
21.7
82%
73%
29
0
1.8
6
6
19













Line graphs for each variable:






Below are weather history tables for Milwaukee,Wisconsin along with line graphs showing trends for each variable listed below.

Milwaukee








Temp.
(ºF)
Relative Humidity
(Percentage)
Extreme Temp.
(Days Per Month)
Rain
(Inches)
Cloudiness
(Days Per Month)
Average
A.M.
P.M.
Below
32º
Above
90º
Average
Clear
Partly
Cloudy
Cloudy
January
18.9
76%
70%
29
0
1.6
7
6
18
February
23.0
77%
68%
26
0
1.5
6
6
15
March
33.3
78%
65%
23
0
2.7
6
8
17
April
44.4
78%
62%
9
N/A
3.5
6
8
16
May
54.6
77%
61%
1
N/A
2.8
7
10
14
June
65.0
79%
62%
0
2
3.2
8
10
12
July
70.9
82%
63%
0
4
3.5
10
11
10
August
69.3
86%
65%
0
2
3.5
10
11
10
September
61.7
85%
65%
N/A
1
3.4
9
9
12
October
50.3
81%
63%
4
0
2.4
9
8
13
November
37.7
80%
68%
18
0
2.5
5
6
18
December
24.4
79%
72%
28
0
2.3
6
6
19
Line graphs for each variable for Milwaukee:





 



Below is data analysis for climatic data from the months of January - April for the Eau Claire area and greater Wisconsin region.

Five warmest twin cities on record: April 1 ,2 ,14 ,15, 23

Five warmest Eau Claire on record: April 1, 2, 14, 15, 18

Five coldest: twin cities on record: April 9 ,10, 11, 12,20

Five coldest: Eau Claire on record: April 6,9,10,11,12


Below are climographs for Eau Claire, Minneapolis, LaCrosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Superior, and Wausau






It is useful to compare different cities bbecause it is good to have a control and then compare different types of data together to have an overall more accurate assessment of climate data of the Wisconsin/ Minnesota region. Variables that influence differences include urban heat islands could have an influence, cities near lakes are generally more mild such as Milwaukee, elevation could have a slight influence, latitude also could have a slight influence, weather patterns, geographic location always has an influence even if is comparing two cities nearby, wind patterns. The data varies from my data collection techniques as follows: There are always possible human errors involved when entering data,missing data values could have an impact, computer errors with excel (data entry), weather equipment could have failed or malfunctioned, etc.


Temperature and precipitation data taken from the Weather Station on top of Phillips.


Below are line graphs that contain the mean temp, max temp, and min temp. for each month from January to February 2012.   


As we look at the temperature data here I noticed how the January temperature goes over 10 degrees Celsius or 50 degrees. That is 40 degrees above our average temperature which is 10 degrees! The same could be said for February where the max temperature was almost 50 degrees again at the end of the month! Additionally, most of the temperatures rarely got below freezing or below zero for that matter.

Below is temperature data for March and a bar graph  that contains precipitation data for January 2012 to Mach 2012. April was not available yet.

I noticed that March set many records including record temperatures for the entire month all over the country. The record was around 25 degrees Celsius or around 80 degrees F. These temperatures are what we normally experience around this time of year near finals week!
The precipitation was below average for January-March with little snow falling. The warm air that was in place was dry and not moisture laden from the gulf. The winds were mostly from the west in January so therefore it was all dry air.


It can be determined that the month of January was relatively boring and dry. The temperatures were above average but the air that was being funneled in was all dry warm air from the west. It can also be determined that the most precipitation fell in February with the large snowstorm that dumped nearly a half foot of snow on Eau Claire. March had periods of large precipitation events due to the warm moist air, however the winter was relatively dry and below average for precipitation. Unfortunately, the south east has been experiencing the same types of events and Texas is still in a severe drought from last year. Hopefully not too many wildfires will spawn due to the hot dry air that this summer is fore casted to be.

Below are pie charts that document the prevailing wind directions for January to March 2012.  

The pie charts show that the most common wind direction in January was SE, W and WNW. This is normal since most of our weather comes from the west, however as springtime arrives and the moisture in the air increases the winds generally switch much me frequently. February's most common wind directions were SE, W and WSW. March's most common wind directions were SE and ESE. March's wind directions had a direct impact on the warm air that broke records during the middle of the month as well as the moisture that was pumped up from the gulf (maritime tropical air which normally isn't seen until late April) January and February were dry up until the start of march when the winds from the E, and SE pumped up moisture from the gulf . In addition to the warm winds the jet stream was up in Canada throughout most of the wintertime which allowed the winds to bring warm air and cap the extreme cold up in Canada.

Source for data above: http://metstation.uwec.edu/Current.htm


Conclusions:To conclude my analysis I can say that the temperature, wind, and precipitation have a strong relation with each other. When low pressure systems move in one could expect rain, S- SE winds,  more moisture in the air, and a drop in pressure,. Whereas in most cases in the wintertime the air is very cold and dry, cant hold much moisture, the winds are generally from the W or NW, and there is little precipitation that falls except for snow. This winter was exceptionally mild and not the average. There was not much moisture that fell, however the winds were not always from the north or west either. when the winds were from the west they were warm and dry, not cold and dry as one would expect. Additionally, when the winds changed  to the S or SE the air and moisture content went up. This normally doesn't happen until late April, however it occurred many times in March.  There were records broken temperature wise all over the country and there were tornadoes down south almost shattering the tornado record from last year in just a matter of days. This year certainly has been strange for weather, boring at times, but strange to say the least.
































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