An early frost?
Only in North Dakota: 90 degrees on Thursday afternoon and the threat of frost by early Saturday morning.
As I write this, it is 40 degrees and the wind chill is 36. It's still early...I'm sure it's bound to get closer to the magic number of 32 in a few hours. Hopefully you all remembered to cover any plants that you have before you went to bed on Friday night. I just brought in our flower pots...all twenty-some of them.
Still, I can't help admit that I kind of like seeing Fall settling in upon us. I've always loved this time of year. The crisp days, the vibrant leaves. Gee...ain't I the romantic type?
Update - 9/10/2006 - 2:17 AM
On Saturday morning, the low was 40 at the Grand Forks NWS office, 33 at the airport, and 32 at the base. Seven degrees difference from the NWS office to the airport? Is that possible? Maybe this has something to do with urban areas retaining heat more than rural areas?
Digg 
del.icio.us 
Posts
5 comments:
We dodged that bullet. I was up at 4:30 AM and the temp was at 38. The 'maters made it!
I enjoyed the warm summer- lots of nights riding the Hog, something you couldn't do the previous two years.
But, yeah, it's nice to have cool days- you can do some physical work and not drown in your own sweat.
Seven degrees difference from the NWS office to the airport? Is that possible? Maybe this has something to do with urban areas retaining heat more than rural areas?
The NWS office is hardly in a "urban" location, compared to the base or airport. An urban heat dome is found in much higher density areas. If the effect is present at all in Grand Forks (and I highly doubt that it is,) it would be limited to the downtown area.
But how do you explain seven degrees difference in the distance of four or five miles?
Actually, the urban affect has nothing to do with it, in the case... The tight temperature gradient (difference) over the short distance between the NWS office and the airport is mostly because of terrain effects and wind direction. The NWS office is at a much lower elevation than that at the airport and when you have an easterly wind, the winds typically decouple (become much lighter) as you move west from the lower elevations of the valley... Add in clear skies (as we had Friday night) to the lighter winds and that spells much cooler temperatures to our immediate west. In these situations (clear skies and easterly winds) the airport is almost always cooler than it is here in town.
Like you, though GFG, I enjoy the cool fall temperatures we've had lately. I prefer the 80's and 90's, but it makes it comfortable for camping, which is an activity I very much enjoy. My gf and I were out at Graham's Island State Park camping Friday night and even though it was a bit chilly getting up Saturday morning, it wasn't all that bad.
Very interesting, Matthew. Thanks for the meteorology lesson. :)
Post a Comment