November 2018 Climate Summary and Statistics – West Rockville Maryland
November 2018 was colder and wetter than normal, based on new normals for my station developed out of the PRISM program out of Oregon State Univ. My max temp (48.9°) was 7.0° below normal, my min temp (37.0°) was 0.2° above normal, and my mean temperature (43.0°) was 3.4° below normal. My total precipitation of 7.76″ was 4.18″ above the newly computed normal precipitation November value for my station of 3.58”. Snowfall was 2.1″ during the month. Snow normals are not computed by PRISM that I know of but most likely this amount is a bit above normal for November.
My first sub-freezing minimum temperature of the fall season was 30.8° late on the 10th which is later than old long-term averages but pretty close to the dates we have been seeing over the last 5-10 years. Unusual cold around Thanksgiving was the most notable temperature highlight, with high temps mostly holding at or below freezing on Turkey Day and the day after. Minimums were below normal but not as much as the max temps. There were 12 days with measurable precipitation, and 4 days with an inch or more, highlighted by the monthly maximum of 1.72″ on the 24th, just after our coldest period of the month when the highest pressure was recorded at 30.64″ on the 23rd. 29.48″ on the 26th was the lowest pressure of the month at the end of our biggest rainy period of the month of 1.98″ (24th-26th)
The highest temperature reached during the month was 73.2° on the 1st while the lowest temperature in November was a chilly 25.5° early on the 23rd. The highest dew point temperature reached during the month was 64° on the 2nd while the lowest dew point temperature value reached during the month was 3° on the 23rd.
Barometric pressure differences during the month increased more over October’s readings, with the lowest value found on the 26th when 29.48” was reached at the end of the wettest storm period of the month (1.98” from the 24th-26th) October’s highest pressure value for the month (30.64”) occurred just a few days before, on the coldest day of the month on the 23rd. This type of pattern is quite common during the colder months of the year, when the greater dynamics of pressure systems are quite frequent.
November had 14 cloudy days, 13 partly cloudy days, and only 3 clear/sunny days. There were 660 heating degree days and 0 cooling degree days during the month. There were 9 foggy days, 6 windy days, and 1 day (each) of snow, sleet, and freezing rain (the 15th). There was no thunder heard during the month. The windy day category is subjective with no personal real data values to back it, just based on my descriptive email daily weather posts that are posted here on my kevinshaw.weathertogether.net page.
Daily max/min temperatures varied more than the previous warmer months. My maximum temperature frequencies included 2 days between 70° and 79°, no days between 60° and 69°, 9 days between 50° and 59°, 14 days between 40° and 49° and 5 days between 30° and 39°. On the minimum temperature frequency side of things, there were 6 days between 20° and 29°, 15 days between 30° and 39°, 6 days between 40° and 49°, and 3 days between 50° and 59°. The coolest daily max temperature was 32.6° on the 23rd with the warmest daily min temp of 53.5° on the 2nd.
The diurnal range daily monthly average was 14.2°. Our greatest daily range of temperature was only 22.2° on the 25th, formed from a high of 58.1° and the low of 35.9°. We had a total of only 3 days with daily ranges above 20.0°. Our lowest range of temperature was 4.2° (48.2°-44.0°) on the 9th during one of several cloudy, cool, and rainy days that occurred this month. There were a significantly above normal 13 total days with diurnal temperature ranges of less than 10.0° throughout the month. The frequent cloudier and wetter days helped to suppress this month’s daily diurnal ranges.
Fortunately I’ve had no more power (battery) problems with my VP2 weather station as I did back in September. I am still constantly checking on my data quality frequently, along with discussion and data comparison with several of my Maryland weather cohorts and reliable online close by observer data. I have prepared the outside components for the winter, such as removal of the inner cylinder and funnel to aide in collecting snow and other freezing precipitation types but I have not deployed my snow board yet.. I continue to occasionally (as time allows) submit GLOBE Cloud observations, complete with submission of sky pictures at the time of the observation, usually timed with the passage of satellites and/or solar noon (about 70 minutes past actual EDT noon). Please ask me any questions you want at any time about my station setup and/or my data through any means available to you.
My November 2018 spreadsheet data of daily values and much more appears through this link: 2018-11-Rockville-2.8-WNW
NOVEMBER 2018 – ROCKVILLE 2.8 WNW MARYLAND – SUMMARY STATISTICS
Average high temperature 48.9° (- 7.0°)
Average low temperature 37.0° (+ 0.2°)
Mean temperature 43.0° (- 3.4°)
Precipitation 7.76″ (+ 4.18” – long-term PRISM normals)
Greatest daily amount (date) 1.72″ (24)
Greatest storm total (dates) 1.98” (24-26)
2018 year-to-date precipitation total 58.81″ (+ 20.00”)
High temperature for the month (date) 73.2° (1)
Low temperature for the month (date) 25.5° (23)
Highest barometric pressure (date) 30.64” (23)
Lowest barometric pressure (date) 29.48” (26)
Peak wind gust (date/direction): N/A
Heating degree days for the month: 660
Cooling degree days for the month: 0
Greatest diurnal range (date): 22.2° (25)
Least diurnal range (date) 4.2° (9)
Number of days:
Fog 9
Windy 6
Thunder 0
Cloudy 14
Partly Cloudy 13
Sunny/Clear 3
Max temp ≥ 70° 2
Min temp =< 32° 10
Precip ≥ 0.01” 12