Anyone who listens to weather reports has heard meteorologists comment that yesterday’s temperature was 3 degrees above normal, or last month was much drier than normal. But what does “normal” mean in this context – and in a world in which the climate is changing?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released updated “climate normals” – datasets that the agency produces every 10 years to give forecasters and the public baseline measurements of average temperature, rainfall and other conditions across the U.S. As the state climatologist and assistant state climatologist for Colorado, we work with this information all the time. Here’s what climate normals are, how they’ve changed, and how you can best make sense of them.
Courtesy of Ole Bye
In the fall of 2018, vast tracts of dryland farm fields around Dove Creek, Colo., lie fallow, awaiting sufficient moisture to plant the next year s winter wheat crop.
Temperatures may be rising across most of the United States, but it’s the Southwest that has become hotter and drier in the last 30 years, according to new data published Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The new climate “normals” compile temperatures and precipitation levels collected from about 8,700 weather stations across the country from 1991 to 2020, according to NOAA. They are updated every ten years and are used by meteorologists to gauge how current weather conditions compare to the overall climate.
Larimer County is literally an oasis in a state filled with drought.
And if the forecast for heavy rain Tuesday into Wednesday is even close to accurate, the city will experience an event it seldom sees.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows nearly 99% of Colorado is in some drought designation. The 1% that isn t is a swath through the middle of Larimer County, including the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar, and northern Boulder County.
The National Weather Service is forecasting Fort Collins to receive 1.72 inches of rain Tuesday through early Wednesday.
The weather service also issued a winter storm warning from 6 p.m. Tuesday until noon Wednesday for the northern Front Range foothills above 7,500 feet. Snow accumulation of 7 to 14 inches for places like Rocky Mountain National Park, the Medicine Bow Range and Cameron Peak burn area is possible, creating slick roads and hazardous driving conditions.
Larimer County is already an oasis in a state of drought: How Tuesday s weather forecast is rare Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Buckhorn Canyon: Fire scorched it, now flooding threatens it
Replay Video
Larimer County is literally an oasis in a state filled with drought.
And if the forecast for heavy rain Tuesday into Wednesday is even close to accurate, the city will experience an event it seldom sees.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows nearly 99% of Colorado is in some drought designation. The 1% that isn t is a swath through the middle of Larimer County, including the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar, and northern Boulder County.
Larimer County is already an oasis in a state of drought: How Tuesday s weather forecast is rare Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Buckhorn Canyon: Fire scorched it, now flooding threatens it
Replay Video
Larimer County is literally an oasis in a state filled with drought.
And if the forecast for heavy rain Tuesday into Wednesday is even close to accurate, the city will experience an event it seldom sees.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows nearly 99% of Colorado is in some drought designation. The 1% that isn t is a swath through the middle of Larimer County, including the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar, and northern Boulder County.