tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4572286363399496963.post4267349689347266782..comments2024-03-28T07:09:59.093-08:00Comments on Deep Cold: Alaska Weather & Climate: Last Freeze in FairbanksRickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03946704894714514716noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4572286363399496963.post-81508033073296731402014-05-16T08:52:53.795-08:002014-05-16T08:52:53.795-08:00There's no sarcasm implied or intended. The qu...There's no sarcasm implied or intended. The question posed is not only what happened, but perhaps why. That's assuming some external condition forces our weather and long term climate in Interior Alaska.<br /><br />The information is useful as it stands. However, any teleconnections are of a longer term interest, especially as they relate to the number of freezes or freezing degree days. I approach cause and effect as a biologist, perhaps others do not.<br /><br />As we swing through the various phases of the PDO and ENSO, there may be a relationship that's reflected in your analysis.<br /><br />Gary<br />NL7Yhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15874712728971005352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4572286363399496963.post-78641156270961027082014-05-16T06:57:05.158-08:002014-05-16T06:57:05.158-08:00Gary, I am not sure if you are being sarcastic. Th...Gary, I am not sure if you are being sarcastic. There is a lot of very useful information (in my opinion) in this type of data regardless of the teleconnection index. For example, there is a well established relationship between freezing degree days and frost depth. Utility companies might be interested in that. If I was planning on deciding how much wood to have on hand before the winter began, the two lines in Figure 1, the bars in Figure 2, and the map in Figure 3 would each independently cause me to collect a different amount of wood. The map in Figure 3 is particularly useful in determining when my wife would move her plant seedling from the house to the garden.Climatologist49https://www.blogger.com/profile/04560505931210357679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4572286363399496963.post-44047958149688954762014-05-16T06:54:49.535-08:002014-05-16T06:54:49.535-08:00Brian, thanks - that matches my understanding of t...Brian, thanks - that matches my understanding of the usual degree day calculation, but for some reason I assumed you had done the calculation with minimum temperatures. Not sure why. The recent trend back up makes more sense with mean temperatures.<br />Richard Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08313902028896263276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4572286363399496963.post-59500845082979254462014-05-16T06:50:41.311-08:002014-05-16T06:50:41.311-08:00Richard, I am pretty sure that the number of freez...Richard, I am pretty sure that the number of freezing degree days is based on the daily average temperature:<br /><br />http://ccr.aos.wisc.edu/resources/data_scripts/wisconsin_climate/descriptions.php<br /><br />http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/fulltext/1980/19800001.pdf<br /><br /><br />Here is a NWS site with an interactive Freezing Degree Day tool (which interestingly has a different value for Fairbanks): http://aprfc.arh.noaa.gov/frzdd_all_sites.html<br />Climatologist49https://www.blogger.com/profile/04560505931210357679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4572286363399496963.post-42526272396906803152014-05-16T04:52:36.407-08:002014-05-16T04:52:36.407-08:00The general trend back up in freezing degree days ...The general trend back up in freezing degree days since 1980 is quite surprising to me. Presumably you calculated the FDD with the minimum temperatures not the daily mean temperatures? I was under the impression that minimum temperatures in recent years were much different from the decades prior to the 1976 PDO shift. Would be interesting to look at the same calculation for stations with less urban influence than the airport.<br />Richard Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08313902028896263276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4572286363399496963.post-16292463339449286722014-05-15T23:20:47.548-08:002014-05-15T23:20:47.548-08:00Tie this into the PDO and ENSO and we'll learn...Tie this into the PDO and ENSO and we'll learn something.<br /><br />GaryNL7Yhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15874712728971005352noreply@blogger.com