Category: climate

How does April 2020 stack up with past Aprils? And what is in store for May?

April 30, 2020

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, forecast discussion

Over the last week we saw a decent amount of sun, as well as some rain and thunderstorms. We saw some great pictures and videos of hail on April 29th over the area, despite a lack of thunder in small showers. The temperatures stayed pretty pleasant this month, and it looks like that trend might continue as…
Read more
Summer 2016 will likely be remembered for unrelenting heat

July 17, 2016

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, excessive heat, summer

The summer of 2016 (at least meteorological summer, which consists of June, July, and August) is halfway over, and though not record-breaking, it has certainly been consistently hot! While Memphis hasn’t officially reached 100° yet this summer, perhaps the most notable statistics are related to the unrelenting duration of the heat. We simply haven’t caught…
Read more
Do cool Memphis Julys signal a cold and snowy winter?

August 6, 2014

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, record temps, snow, winter

A question we have been asked a lot recently is what our unseasonably cool July might mean for the upcoming winter. We decided to look at the top 5 coldest Julys in Memphis and each of the following winters to see if there is any connection between cool summers and the following winter. For the…
Read more
On a cold start to the year, average last freeze dates, and weekend rain

March 14, 2014

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, forecast, freeze, lightning round

We introduced the MWN Lightning Round about a week ago to provide small bites of weather info that we think would interest our readers. Today’s edition focuses on just how cold it’s been so far this year, when (typically) the coldest of the air is behind us, and a quick look ahead at an unsettled…
Read more
January 2013 Climate Data and Forecast Accuracy

February 6, 2013

–

Erik Proseus

–

accuracy, climate, climate data

Temperatures once again averaged above normal, while precipitation was finally well above normal. Drought conditions continued to abate, even though rainfall was below normal. Northern parts of the metro were still classified “abnormally dry” at the end of the month, however drought was over for the rest of the metro. There were two strong to…
Read more
2012: Warmest Year on Record, in Memphis and the U.S.

January 9, 2013

–

Erik Proseus

–

annual summary, climate, climate data

Apparently Memphis wasn’t the only hot spot in the good ole’ USA this year! A just-released report from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), a division of NOAA, states that 2012 was the warmest year on record in the continental U.S. In 2012, the contiguous United States (CONUS) average annual temperature of 55.3°F was 3.3°F above…
Read more
MWN 2012-2013 Winter Outlook for the Mid-South

November 24, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, seasonal outlook, winter

Winter outlooks are always a tricky endeavor here in the Mid-South. In fact, I’ll be honest, I don’t like doing them, but they seem to be popular among our readers so I put them together each year with some hesitation. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m not a long-range forecaster. I specialize in nowcasting.…
Read more
Long-lead temperature forecasts indicate a hot Mid-South summer is likely

June 21, 2012

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, long-range forecast, seasonal outlook

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center released their updated temperature probability outlooks today. Below are the outlooks for July 2012 and the July-August-September period. The tan colors indicate temperatures above normal are more likely than temperatures below normal. Light blue colors indicate temperatures below normal are more likely than temperatures above normal. To decipher, consider first that in…
Read more
September 2011 Climate Data and MWN Forecast Accuracy

October 3, 2011

–

Erik Proseus

–

accuracy, climate

With one of the hottest summers on record in Memphis in the history books (3rd warmest behind 1980 and 2010), a welcome change arrived in September – temperatures averaged below normal for the month! After temperatures of 96 or higher the 1st through 3rd, fall arrived with only two 90+ degree readings the rest of…
Read more
August 2011 Climate Data and MWN Forecast Accuracy

September 3, 2011

–

Erik Proseus

–

accuracy, climate

While the June-July period averaged 84.9 degrees (tied with 1980 as the warmest June-July on record in Memphis), August’s temperatures were slightly cooler than July overall and brought the “summer of 2011” average temperature down slightly to 84.6 degrees, which ranks as the 3rd hottest summer in recorded Memphis history behind 1980 and 2010. Record…
Read more
Pattern shift means warmer and stormier in the Mid-South

December 27, 2010

–

Erik Proseus

–

2010 recap, climate, forecast discussion

It’s been a cold December f0r the Mid-South with an average temperature of 39.1 degrees at Memphis International Airport, or nearly 5 degrees below “normal,” and 19 days with lows at or below freezing. The good thing about the cold weather is that it was in place as low pressure moved by to our south…
Read more
September Climate Data and MWN Forecast Accuracy

October 1, 2010

–

Erik Proseus

–

accuracy, climate

Memphis International Airport, Memphis, TNSeptember typically marks the transition from the heat of a Memphis summer to the much more pleasant conditions of fall. While that transition did take place this month, it was much later in than any Mid-Southerner could have hoped for, especially after a very long and hot summer. Multiple high temperature…
Read more
Top 10 – Streaks of sub-70 degree temps

February 25, 2010

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate

The last 70 degree day in Memphis was November 15, 2009, or 102 days ago. This streak puts the city in the top 10 for consecutive number of days below 70 and the longest such stretch in 74 years. Listed below are the top ten longest stretches since records began in 1875. This winter season…
Read more
A pattern shift in the making

January 17, 2010

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, el nino, forecast discussion

My apologies for having taken some time off from the blog after the recent Arctic outbreak. I guess I was thawing my fingers. The finger-thawing weather will continue for the foreseeable future, though with some temps in the 60s the past few days, I don’t think there is any thawing left to be done! While…
Read more
Climate trends, El Nino, and waterfowl

November 23, 2009

–

Erik Proseus

–

birds, climate, el nino, forecast models, nexrad radar

I have seen several interesting weather items of note in the past couple of days that I thought I would touch on today. Here they are, in decreasing scale order (globally to locally): October Climate StatsWhile the U.S. experienced its wettest, and third coolest, October in recorded history, that didn’t bear out across the rest…
Read more
Why “normals” don’t necessarily always seem normal

November 14, 2009

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate

I make it a practice to almost never use the word “normal” when referring to temperature and precipitation trends. Even though it is a widely used term in Meteorology and Climatology, I prefer the more mathematically correct term “average.” As far as I am concerned, there is nothing normal about a weather pattern that changes…
Read more
October climate data and forecast accuracy

November 4, 2009

–

Erik Proseus

–

accuracy, climate

October continued the trend started in September by being much wetter than normal – in fact, record wet! The excess clouds and precipitation contributed to cool temperatures for the month. Following are climate summaries for Memphis and Bartlett, TN. Memphis International Airport, Memphis, TNAt Memphis Int’l Airport, the average temperature was 60.7 degrees, which was…
Read more
Regional precipitation totals for October

November 1, 2009

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTNWS-MEMPHIS TN / MEMPHISWEATHER.NET0835 PM CST SUN NOV 1 2009 …OCTOBER 2009 RAINFALL SET RECORDS ACROSS THE MID-SOUTH… THE MEMPHIS AIRPORT RECORDED 10.56 INCHES. THE NORMAL IS3.31 INCHES. A RECORD WAS SET THIS MONTH. THE OLD RECORDWAS 10.13 INCHES SET IN 1919. WXLIVE IN BARTLETT TENNESSEE RECORDED 9.79 INCHES. THIS ISTHE HIGHEST OCTOBER…
Read more
A note on climate: year-to-date precipitation

May 9, 2009

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate, record precip

After running behind in the precipitation category for much of the year, this month’s rains have caught the area back up to normal. As of this afternoon, Memphis Int’l Airport is now about a qurater-inch above normal for precipitation year-to-date with a total of 21.79″. For the month of May, however, you will not be…
Read more
It’s official! Warmest day of the year was yesterday

April 24, 2009

–

Erik Proseus

–

climate

I think we can officialy say spring is here, and summer is probably not too far away, given the temps recorded around the area yesterday! My blog poll last week asked when the first 85 degree temperature would be recorded. A whopping ZERO of you voted for “prior to April 25”! Well, you were all…
Read more