Data Analysis
This data analysis will compare graphs of weather trends and take a look at patterns throughout the 2012 Spring semester, and note any major weather events this year.
March Mean Temperatures since 1895
Looking at this graph it can be concluded that temperatures have been on the rise since 1895. The trend line is the best way to observe that. This year has been the highest average temperature since 1895. The pattern is that the temperatures from year to year go above the average and below the average oscillating back and forth. Although this year has been the record high it is not far from about 1947 and 1948. Is this a sign of global warming though? I would speculate that it is apparent that the trend line is slowly rising. In the past 107 years the trend line has rose two degrees. There are other factors that would need to be observed to determine climate change though. The average temperature line could be skewed by high and low outliers. The fact that some of the coldest years have been after 1950 its hard to say for sure that the climate is changing. From the pattern of this graph I would predict that in the next years it will be colder then average again and then warmer in later years.
March Average Precipitation
This graph shows the average and actual amount of precipitation for the months of March since 1895 to the present. The trend line of this graph stays pretty much the same with the average. It has very slightly decreased over the years. The actual amount of precipitation oscillates just like temperature does. It follows almost the same pattern as temperature but doesn't deviate from the mean as far. This year there are been a below average amount of precipitation. If we were to look at summer months instead of spring I predict it would be more below average for precipitation in the later years since there has been droughts.
Climographs of Surrounding Areas of Eau Claire
All these climographs show areas surrounding Eau Claire. The climate and weather for these areas are the same with a few variations. It is important to note that the data used for these graphs is not all from the same time period. It was just the data that was available so there are some minor variations. Also not all the data was collected in the same location. For instance the Eau Claire data was observed from Minneapolis, so there is no way of saying it is completely accurate. Technology also improved throughout the years that this data was collected from so the later data is more accurate then the earlier information. These graphs show the average temperature and rain fall in each month over a number of years. Some key differences between these areas are the amount of precipitation. Milwaukee and Superior are right next to the great lakes. They get the lake effect snow, which can be observed by the spikes of precipitation during the winter months. Also Superior, Minneapolis, Eau Claire and LaCrosse have on average cooler temperatures then Madison and Milwaukee. This is probably because they are further north then the other cities. Milwaukee and Madison and Minneapolis could also be some what warmer because of the Urban Heat Islands. These climographs are a great way to compare how the temperature effects the amount of precipitation.
Temperatures for the Beginning Months of 2012
These graphs are showing the temperatures for each day in the months of January, February, and April. They show how warm, cold, and the average for each day. January, the coldest of the months had the most variation. That month had the coldest days out of the rest but the beginning of the month had a spike in warm temperatures. There was also the least variation between max and min for the month of January. I contribute this to it not cooling way down at night, but rather remaining cold all the entire day. February had less fluctuation throughout the month in temperature. It was about the same temperature all month and did not have many "heat waves". The end of the month did warm up into the month of March. March data was unavailable to make the graphs for, but the month of March was the record breaker for warmth. April was pretty warm as well. During the month of April the max and min temperatures were further apart. This is probably due to cooling nights. The sun heats up the temperature throughout the day and with little precipitation, there is little cloud coverage that would act as a blanket keeping in the heat. So instead the heat escapes into the atmosphere causing the nights to cool down.
Precipitation for the Early Months of 2012
These graphs show the days that had precipitation and how much. It is easy to see from the lack of days in January and February that Wisconsin did not see the typical amount of snow that it usually gets. January did have the highest amount of precipitation in one day. That was the big snow storm Eau Claire and Duluth experience. It was not quite what was anticipated but it was a good amount of snow. April has the most frequent days of precipitation but that is expected since "April showers bring May flowers". April is the first of the real spring months in Wisconsin even though March felt like spring this year.
Prevailing Wind Directions for Beginning Months of 2012
The prevailing wind directions for these three months are west winds and south east winds. Typically the weather that impacts Eau Claire is coming down from Minnesota and goes through Duluth first. This is because of the Continental Polar mass that effects the weather in Wisconsin the most. April's wind directions were more different then the other two months. The south east wind direction brings more precipitation because of cloud formations. It makes sense that April had the most of this wind direction then because it was the month with the most rain fall. Wind direction changes speed and direction throughout the day due to the fronts and air masses coming through the area.
Comparison of Two Cities
Major Weather Events Throughout this Blog
There were not too many significant things that happened this semester with the weather. There was the warmest temperatures the month of March has ever seen. There was also the least amount of snow Wisconsin has seen in a long time. We had one major winter storm come through that brought Eau Claire about three inches of snow but further north Duluth saw 22 inches of snow. There was rain in January and February too, months we typically see snow in. Also the beginning of tornado season has started. Tornado alley has seen the most number of tornados ever too. Other then these events the weather has been calm and quite boring to say the least.
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