The line graph shows a lot of variation in the average temperature in March from year to year in the Northeast. The biggest fluctuations can be seen from 1895 until about 1948. The largest fluctuation can be seen from about 1945 to 1946, when the average increased from 30˚F to about 43˚F the next year. Starting in 1948 the flucuations begin to be less extreme. Overall, the graph shows that average March temperatures have increased from 32˚F to 34˚F today. After 1985, the graph shows consistently warmer temperatures that the rest of the years.
This graph of precipitation in March shows, for the most part, very consistant fluctuations from 1895 to 2012. Some small differences can be seen from about 1958 to 1980. The general trend of the graph shows that the average precipitation during the month of Mach decreased from about 3.5 inches to 3.4 inches.
The top 10 coldest years for the month of March are:
Year
|
Temperature
(deg F) |
Rank Based on the
Time Period Selected (1895-2012)* |
Rank Based on the
Period of Record (1895-2012)* | |||
1950
|
28.3
|
10
|
10
| |||
1940
|
27.9
|
9
|
9
| |||
1941
|
27.5
|
8
|
8
| |||
1926
|
27.1
|
6
|
6
| |||
1906
|
27.1
|
6
|
6
| |||
1984
|
26.9
|
5
|
5
| |||
1900
|
26.7
|
3
|
3
| |||
1896
|
26.7
|
3
|
3
| |||
1960
|
25.2
|
2
|
2
| |||
1916
|
25.1
|
1
|
1
| |||
The top 10 warmest years for the month of March are:
Year
|
Temperature
(deg F) |
Rank Based on the
Time Period Selected (1895-2012)* |
Rank Based on the
Period of Record (1895-2012)* |
2012
|
43.2
|
118
|
118
|
1946
|
42.5
|
117
|
117
|
1945
|
42.4
|
116
|
116
|
1921
|
41.2
|
115
|
115
|
1903
|
40.9
|
114
|
114
|
1973
|
39.9
|
113
|
113
|
2010
|
39.4
|
112
|
112
|
1977
|
39.0
|
111
|
111
|
1898
|
39.0
|
111
|
111
|
1910
|
38.5
|
109
|
109
|
This data really does not support the popular belief that our climate is getting warmer. Besides 2012 and 2010, the most recent warmest temperature was 1973. Most of these warm years are from the first half of the twentieth century, and not have been occurring lately, as most people believe. Weather data varies greatly from year to year, and no real trends are apparent from looking at this data. The addition of monthly average temperature data would help people become more informed because they could see if there was a month or two that were really warm or cold and were making the year overall seem different. Data from different parts of the world could also be used to see if they are experiencing the same trends as here in the US.
The graphs show that Madison and Milwaukee experienced virtually the same temperatures throughout the year. It is also apparent that rain increases during the warmer months, most noticeably towards the end of summer. Milwaukee received a little more rain in the spring, but it appears that Madison got a little more overall.
Madison
Min Temp January (16˚F)
Max Temp July (71˚F)
Min Precip January and February (1.1 inches)
Max Precip August (4 inches)
Milwaukee
Min Temp January (18.9˚F)
Max Temp July (69.3˚F)
Min Precip February (1.5 inches)
Max Precip July and August (3.5 inches
The following are climographs for six cities in Wisconsin and Minnesota that show the average temperature and amount of rainfall per month.
Eau Claire
Eau Claire, United States of America
Source: GHCN 1
Avg. rainfall 1891-1989
Avg. temperature 1891-1980
Minneapolis
Minneapolis/St. Paul International
Source: GHCN 1
Avg. rainfall 1837-1990
Avg. temp 1819-1987
Madison
Madison Dane County AP, Dane County
Source: NCDC Cooperative Systems
Avg. rainfall 1947-1995
Avg. temperature 1961-1990
Milwaukee
Milwaukee Mtchll Fld, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin USA
Source: NCDC TD 9641 Clim 81 1961-1990 Normals
Avg. rainfall 1961-1990
Avg. temperature 1961-1990
Superior
Superior, Douglas County
Source: NCDC TD 9641 Clim 81 1961-1990 Normals
Avg. rainfall 1961-1990
Avg. temperature 1961-1990
Wausau
Wausau Municipal AP, Marathon County, Wisconsin USA
Source: NCDC TD 9641 Clim 81 1961-1990 Normals
Avg. rainfall 1961-1990
Avg. temperature 1961-1990
The following three graphs show the low, mean, and high temperature data collected on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus for the month of January, February, and April.
As expected, these graphs show the general increase in temperatures as the months moved from winter into spring. When looking at the data, there is a much different pattern of April Temperatures than the other two months. There is a lot less variation in the temperatures throughout the days in the month compared to January and February, and there also seems to be less variation in the high and low temperatures per day.
These graphs show precipitation and mean temperature data for the months of January, February, and April at the Univeristy of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus.
These graphs seem to show that the temperatures were warmer on days when there were higher amounts of precipitation. This can be seen on January 1st, 26th, 27th, February 29th, and April 3rd, and the 15th.
The final three graphs show the dominant wind direction for the three months of data that was collected on campus.
The dominant wind direction for the most days in February is from the west. The other days were pretty even between east, southeast, southwest, and northwest. Again, the warmer temperatures were associated with winds from the southwest. On days that there was precipitation, the winds were from the west, southwest, and the east.
The final three graphs show the dominant wind direction for the three months of data that was collected on campus.
The dominant wind direction for January was from the southeast. When comparing the dominant wind direction to temperature, you can see that the warmer days are usually associated with wind directions from the southwest, and cooler days from the east. Precipitation is associated with winds from the northwest or the southeast.
The dominant wind direction so far in April has been from the southeast. We have experienced wind from this direction 11 days for far this month, which is almost twice as many as the next closest direction (northwest). There are no real patterns that can be distinguished between wind direction and precipitation. The days when there was precipitation had very different dominant wind directions.
OVERALL OBSERVATIONS
One trend that was apparent from comparing all of these graphs is that precipitation generally occurred more often on days with warmer temperatures. This can also be seen on the Climographs that I created for the various cities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The warmer months get much more precipitation than the winter months. There was also a lot more temperature variation in a day, as well as from day to day in January than in the later months. There was a very big difference in the maximum and minimum temperature per day, and those temperatures varied significantly over the course of the month. This was not as apparent in the graph for February, and is not the case in April, where the range of temperatures per day is much less, and the temperatures are pretty consistent throughout the month. There was also a change in the dominant wind direction from January and February to April. It would have been interesting to see what the data for March was, but it was not on the website.
