Monthly Archives: January 2012

Cold or Warm Winter?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

The lower 48 states have for the most part recorded a mild winter.  Locally, the month of December finished 11.2 degrees above average and the month of January is currently running about 10 degrees above normal.  If February records temperatures … Continue reading →

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That Bridge has Passed

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

I have been asked numerous times in the past week if I thought Fargo Moorhead would break the record for the least snowiest winter on record.   When I mention that we have already passed that mark, there always seems to … Continue reading →

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Cold Alaskan Morning

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

Just a weeeee bit chilly in Alaska this morning.  The red numbers are the air temperature in ˚F.  Green numbers will be the Dew Point where it is warm enough to be recorded.  Coldest Day in Fairbanks since 2006, which … Continue reading →

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Far from Zero

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

Snow is like the star quarterback or running back on a football team.  It gets all the publicity and to a large degree for good reason.  Snow gathers our attention; it needs to be shoveled and plowed.  It creates hazardous … Continue reading →

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Air Mass

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

The term air mass is used frequently by meteorologists.  By definition an air mass is a large volume of air that has similar properties.  Those properties would include temperature and often moisture content.  These air masses will develop certain characteristics … Continue reading →

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Always Humbling

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

Yesterday in this space, I mentioned that our just completed first half of winter was the warmest such stretch since 1881.  As the old saying goes, records are made to be broken, plus, as I wrote about earlier in the … Continue reading →

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Warm Half

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

January 15 marked the half-way point of climatological winter and that stretch we just finished was the warmest on record.  The period from December 1 through January 15 averaged 25.3 degrees which was not only the warmest such period on … Continue reading →

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Positive Winter

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

The average number of days with a low temperature below zero during the winter in Fargo is 50.  So far this season, below zero temperature readings have been rare.  Officially we have recorded three days with below zero temperatures.  The first was … Continue reading →

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Warmer in the Past

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

Although the winter has turned noticeably colder in the past few days, the temperatures this winter have been so mild that on many occasions I have heard numerous people mention that this has been the nicest winter ever.  As frequent … Continue reading →

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What a Stretch

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Daryl Ritchison

The first 10 days of January was a remarkable stretch of mild temperatures.  The average temperature during that period was 29.7 degrees, which was 5 degrees warmer than any other such stretch on record and a phenomenal 20.3 degrees above … Continue reading →

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