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N. America Winter 2022-2023 Temperature Screenshots


Matthew92

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Per @RedRabbit’s suggestion: here’s a thread for temperature screenshots for cold events during the rest of this winter.
 

If we need to further compartmentalize locations: we can further specify or create a new thread that would entail more specific areas.

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FYI - you can use this site from the NWS to find officially reported low temperatures.  I would turn off Hazard Overlays, make sure Surface Observation Overlays are turned on, and select 'Min Temperature' under the display tab.  This allows you to see the minimum recorded temperatures since midnight of the current day.  There are fewer stations, but *generally* they will be of a much higher quality.  Also, much like Wunderground, you need to zoom further in to ensure you see all stations. A few examples from today below:

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/

image.png.e7244ec0ead438e0da39a86e97061f7e.pngimage.png.e4ea4fbfb21ce818eb110785eeaa7707.pngimage.png.5411fad8c748e445d59969f2a86c8664.pngimage.png.df171b91941b93c7f3825b3a5f339c63.pngimage.png.037d74a770f1edc86b2a88fcbb312858.pngimage.png.71e9bc82a4aa46f48cfa5afe7217a584.pngimage.png.d71dd65ba52d49bbfff16328b676bd89.pngimage.png.edb1bafee55144d4be5b2732a9df76d7.png

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2 hours ago, Xenon said:

Laredo outperforms Corpus Chrisiti again

Notice the lack of water moderation, latitude >>>

So the water is a liability now? These advective events are the weirdest at times.

In particular, I never will understand why that Rio Grande Valley area remains so mild off relative to the rest of the state during these cold snaps. The LRGV and SPI is obvious, and the areas around Trans-Pecos Texas do have some mountains to slow down the cold ... but places like Del Rio, Uvalde, Laredo, etc can sometimes stay milder/warm up more efficiently compared to Corpus on the coast, while going just east into San Antonio will get you temps similar to (if not colder than) Houston.

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2 minutes ago, __nevii said:

So the water is a liability now? These advective events are the weirdest at times.

In particular, I never will understand why that Rio Grande Valley area remains so mild off relative to the rest of the state during these cold snaps. The LRGV and SPI is obvious, and the areas around Trans-Pecos Texas do have some mountains to slow down the cold ... but places like Del Rio, Uvalde, Laredo, etc can sometimes stay milder/warm up more efficiently compared to Corpus on the coast, while going just east into San Antonio will get you temps similar to (if not colder than) Houston.

Remember, cold air wants to drain to the lowest possible location..  TX hill country is higher in elevation than the coast, ...or east of San Antonio... so cold air will find it's way "down slope" to the flatter, lower areas via all the canyons that cut into the Plateau..  The effect is similar to how cold air tends to drain off the hills into the Central Valley / Coastal valleys in California, or even here -to some degree- ..

Less expanse of dense tree cover / predominance of short vegetation up on the Plateau means the ground can heat up faster as well.  Same "vegetation cover" effect is seen here, a big reason it can go from 37-40F right at sunrise, to 85-90F by noon..  Low dew points / humidity are other factors that contribute to faster heating of air.  Opposite would be humid air that doesn't heat as efficiently / quickly..

In the case of this event, orientation of overall wind flow around the parent LPC over the Great Lakes is probably inducing some degree of west / northwest downsloaping off the mountains in Mexico over parts of Western / far S.W. TX. That downsloaping pulls in drier ( and possibly warmer ) air from the Chihuahuan Desert..  Air tends to warm as it descends down the lee sides of mountains.. ( Though not quite the same outcome, Think Santa Ana / Diablo wind events in California )

Notice how the coldest air was dragged more to the south east as it moved south, rather than bowling it's way due south down the Rockies / E. New Mexico toward Brownsville, ..before turning east as it moved in..  As nasty as this is, it could have been much worse.

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@Silas_Sancona true, this event is certainly extending well eastward into the SE US instead of focusing fully on Texas/nearby states.

And yes, the elevation effects are true: I just wasn't sure whether those effects were only apparent with steeper gradients (i.e. huge mountains), as opposed to simply more level terrain, plateaus, etc that encompass a lot of higher elevation Texas areas. But Del Rio is definitely higher than San Antonio, so cold air draining into San Antonio will certainly remain there, while having a more difficult time "breaching" the rise of terrain from Del Rio into adjacent Mexico.

That said, if the cold is coming from the Rockies/High Plains, it does have to descent to lower elevations to reach the Gulf Coast. So there should be some "compression effect" like you mentioned, especially from the steepest areas of the Hill Country. So it seems that the coolness of higher elevation areas (on average) compared to lower elevations comes a lot from overall adiabatics.

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20 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Remember, cold air wants to drain to the lowest possible location..  TX hill country is higher in elevation than the coast, ...or east of San Antonio... so cold air will find it's way "down slope" to the flatter, lower areas via all the canyons that cut into the Plateau..  The effect is similar to how cold air tends to drain off the hills into the Central Valley / Coastal valleys in California, or even here -to some degree- ..

Less expanse of dense tree cover / predominance of short vegetation up on the Plateau means the ground can heat up faster as well.  Same "vegetation cover" effect is seen here, a big reason it can go from 37-40F right at sunrise, to 85-90F by noon..  Low dew points / humidity are other factors that contribute to faster heating of air.  Opposite would be humid air that doesn't heat as efficiently / quickly..

In the case of this event, orientation of overall wind flow around the parent LPC over the Great Lakes is probably inducing some degree of west / northwest downsloaping off the mountains in Mexico over parts of Western / far S.W. TX. That downsloaping pulls in drier ( and possibly warmer ) air from the Chihuahuan Desert..  Air tends to warm as it descends down the lee sides of mountains.. ( Though not quite the same outcome, Think Santa Ana / Diablo wind events in California )

Notice how the coldest air was dragged more to the south east as it moved south, rather than bowling it's way due south down the Rockies / E. New Mexico toward Brownsville, ..before turning east as it moved in..  As nasty as this is, it could have been much worse.

Here's a very crude, 3 yr old's chicken scratch drawing  of my thoughts on the set up:

45502826_Screenshot2022-12-23at11-05-38ForecastModels.png.ea8dd1c5b394240ce5daef8ed2721bae.png



Light Blue Arrows:  Cold air moving south ( Regardless of where the coldest air is directed, still more than enough brought down which will flow toward the tropics )

Orange /Red Arrows:  "Warm "/ dry / drier flow from the west /southwest up and over Mexico..

Yellow Arrows:  More significant directional "pull" of the cold air by the entire system..

Pinkish line: Where i imagine the coldest air reaches before being modified < again, rough assumption > ..More so over the Gulf than off the east coast..

Thick, Dark Blue arrow:  How the set up could have gone.. IE: Instead of turning east, the low pulling all this air south could have carved out a path following the Purple X'es, vs. where it is positioned now ( Agua Blue X )


On the map:  Tight "packing" of lines you're seeing running south from the Rockies, through the Chihuahuan Desert, and down along the Sierra Oriental Mountains in E. Mexico represent Mean Sea Level Pressure.. I'd bet it is very windy in a lot of places under there..

Overall, as that low pulls away, "warmer"  air will spill east from Mexico / the Southwest U.S. and end the cold there.. Southerly return flow that gets pulled north from the gulf in S. TX. will also help modify things.

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14 minutes ago, __nevii said:

@Silas_Sancona true, this event is certainly extending well eastward into the SE US instead of focusing fully on Texas/nearby states.

And yes, the elevation effects are true: I just wasn't sure whether those effects were only apparent with steeper gradients (i.e. huge mountains), as opposed to simply more level terrain, plateaus, etc that encompass a lot of higher elevation Texas areas. But Del Rio is definitely higher than San Antonio, so cold air draining into San Antonio will certainly remain there, while having a more difficult time "breaching" the rise of terrain from Del Rio into adjacent Mexico.

That said, if the cold is coming from the Rockies/High Plains, it does have to descent to lower elevations to reach the Gulf Coast. So there should be some "compression effect" like you mentioned, especially from the steepest areas of the Hill Country. So it seems that the coolness of higher elevation areas (on average) compared to lower elevations comes a lot from overall adiabatics.

In California at least, you don't necessarily have to have large mountains to feel the effects of cold air drainage.. or the opposite, downsloaping effect..  I used to go for bike rides at night on a trail near where i grew up.. On certain nights, if i passed ..seemingly shallow and non significant looking canyons, you could feel a big temperature difference as i passed.. A few times, there was even a decent breeze cold blowing out of the same "canyon" ..A little creepy when it is 12 Midnight and there is no moonlight ( ..and very little distant streetlight )

Having driven through TX at least a dozen times, some of the canyons that cut down from the Plateau, say just N.W. of San Antonio along the 10 are plenty steep enough to drain cold air quite effectively, esp. if there is some deg. of "slower" flow above the surface pushing everything south and or east from the higher country to the north ...and /or.. west.  I'd imagine the effect to pouring water on a large, relatively flat topped rock, then watching where the water tries to flow away to.  Air is obviously a bit different of course..

Regarding descending "down" the Rockies / High Plains, i'm sure the adiabitic factor does come into play, though ..because you are descending in elevation down the plains relatively slowly, i don't think air masses experience quite the same degree of warming as they can descending down a steeper elevation grade, IE: off the Sierras / Mountains surrounding S. Cal. ..I Could be wrong of course, no worries if so..  

While it might seem very minimal from our perspective, i'm sure there was -at least- some  deg. of air mass modification as it moved south toward lower elevation Coastal Plain areas of TX / overall S.E.

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I just did a quick survey of Pinellas County and Belair Beach, Belair Bluffs, and Clearwater Beach are doing the best at 40-41f. Coastal St. Pete neighborhoods and St. Pete Beach are around 38-39f by comparison.

It will be interesting to see if those northern Pinellas beach communities hold up for the next few hours.

98D06C05-CAAF-420A-B251-54B9A179DD4D.png

Edited by RedRabbit

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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Its interesting to see points east of I-75 in Sarasota are actually on par with the best Pinellas microclimates. This is a big surprise, perhaps just a fluke.

3211C2A8-A834-4A6D-911C-7B2F96E8D0A0.png

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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I have a Memphis screenshot from yesterday. Unlike many on here 4 season humid continental climates are my favorite, but this is too cold of a day to be even my nice winter averages!😱
kJEZpVd.png?1

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Close-up of Lakeland Metro and outlying areas.  KLAL reported 30F.  In my own case, I drew a 30F out of the bag.  Semi-surprised to see a few 20s east of South Florida Ave (FL-37).  That usually doesn't happen.  Most of the cooling happened after midnight.  It was above 40F at midnight here in the yard.  With advective freezes, no frost anywhere thankfully.

20221224_Wundermap.jpg.c31c3447f79b01c37aa901d62c0e898e.jpg

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Places of interests:

Orlando heat island

The lakes provided a little more protection than all of the Christmas lights cars and buildings did this time around

Orlando.png

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Brevard County, Fl

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I forgot to post this screenshot from the morning of December 24th (5:19am). This was close to the point temperatures were at their lowest in my region. Note multiple 19F degree readings in Destin/Miramar/Santa Rosa Beach area. In a more typical cold snap with little or no wind, the temperatures out there are as high as 5 degrees or more than on the mainland.

131430220_dec22cold24th.thumb.JPG.b85398b46af33fdde7fa142e8f96cbc1.JPG

 

Edited by Matthew92
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  • 3 weeks later...

The attached zip file contains the airport records for the last 3 days (01/14/2023 - 01/16/2023).

20230114-20230116_FL_airports.zip

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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