Weekly Weather Report

For Farmers and Others

Week of March 16, 2015

From Friendship Farms & Fare

A Community Service To the Local Farming Community

69 degrees at 4:00 AM, March 15, 2015

Weekly Weather Report

What Happened to Winter – Continued?

71 degrees at 4:00 AM, March 14 , 2015

Historic Average (for 3/13): 76 HIGH, 58 LOW–Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/

Last Week (3/7-3/13):  As expected this past week saw again saw the highest temperatures of the winter, with most days reaching highs in the mid-80s, and some reaching the upper 80s.

Last week temperatures again soared well above normal.  We continue to marvel as some TV weather reporters insist on claiming these temperatures are “not unusual for this time of year.”  True, an occasional 80-degree day in March is not unusual.  What is unusual is a run of days above 80, and some in the 90s.  The lows are even higher above norms than the highs.  Average low for early March is mid-50s, and we’ve been in the mid-60s to low 70s.  In other words, our lows are about as high as our average highs.

The highest high for last week at WU was 88 (3/12) – although thermometers at the gardens registered 90 that day. The lowest high was 73 (3/7). The highest low was 76 (3/10-12) and lowest low was 51 (3/12). Six of seven days were above normal for highs (all at or above 80 degrees), and six were above normal for lows.   Our average high for this time of the year is 75 and our average low is 57.

This Week (3/14-3/20):  Get ready for more hot days, as the warmest weather of the winter continues.  Look for highs above 80 degrees every day this week.  If this occurs, we’ll have a run 13 straight days of 80-degree days.  As was the case, last week, these temperatures are well above normal for this time of the year, and more typical of late April and early May, not mid-March.

There is chance of rain mid-week.

Looking Ahead: We are still in the driest and coldest time of the year. Rainfall averages are creeping upward (like the temperatures).  Historic norms indicate cool and dry conditions through March, although we are not running true to form on this.  Dry conditions will require more frequent irrigation. The rainy season is still months away.

Average temperatures are gradually rising. By the end of March averages will be in the upper-70s for highs and upper-50s for lows.

We are out of freeze season, with last week being the latest date for a recorded freeze in this area – March 5, 1893 the temperature reached 32 degrees.  There are no recorded freezes for any date for the rest of the year, until November.  On November 16, 1940, the low was 31 degrees.

Averages are not good guides, and we are currently running above historical averages, but with rather dramatic fluctuations.  We reached or exceeded 80 degrees four times in January, but not once in February.  Already in March we’ve reached or exceeded 80 degrees five times.  Readers will notice spring flowers appearing, well ahead of schedule.  This means the winter vegetables may also flower early and bolt – if the warm weather continues.

Historic Average (for 3/13): 76 HIGH, 58 LOW–Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/

Historically, the average high temperature is now 76 degrees (six degrees higher than the lowest average low [70] of the year), and fourteen degrees lower than the highest average high [90]). Our average low is now 58 degrees, which is seven degrees higher than lowest average low [51], and eighnteen degrees lower than the highest average low [76]). 

The average low and high are increasing at about a degree a week. They will peak in early June for highs and late June for lows, and remain constant (at 90/76) until early September, when the annual decline begins. This means for three months the average high will be 90 degrees, and the average low will be 76.  It will also be humid during those months.

Note: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that 2014 was the hottest year on record (since records have been kept, 1880).  Ocean and land temperatures were at their all time highs. 

This is no great surprise to us.  2014 seemed hotter than usual here at the farms, and the past few years, our highs and lows have typically run a bit higher than historic averages. Last year the trend continued, and so far this year, it is still continuing.  Although humans may enjoy unseasonably warm weather, above normal temperatures stress the winter crops, which flourish in cool to cold temperatures.

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