This post is a personal research project that I am evaluating. Over the course of 2 months, I have recorded the high and low temperatures at the weather station at the Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, AL. Along with the temperatures, I have also recorded the amount of rain which fell on which day – a visual aid in analyzing the temperature departures from normal (why was so and so day colder than the rest….look, it rained over an inch that day!).
Rainfall Amounts Per Day at the Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, AL (Summer 2009)
The summer seems to be a typical one – temperatures only straying from normal by a margin of more than 10 degrees only twice during the recorded dates. One was a heat wave which swept through the valley during Mid-to-Late June whereas we had a cold spell (or cool spell) during Late July. Rainfall during this period wasn’t spread out over the course of the period but rather came in bursts which left many reports of flash flooding in the area.
Recorded and Average Temperatures at the Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, AL (Summer 2009)
dansatt
skywarn256
You’ll also notice that on days that the high temperature and low temperature are close together (+/- 10F), those days experienced extensive cloudcover – typically ahead and along a front or under a low pressure center. Usually days following an extensively cloudy day are lower, both high and low temperature, than the cloudy day. This is a signal that a front has passed through the area the day before dropping temperatures dependant on the strength of the air surge. Although there were some days which strayed far from the norm, the summer, for the most part, has been quiet both heat wave and cool spell wise.