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First Frozen Date

08 Dec 2016 05:34 AM
The high temperature on Wednesday only reached 32 degrees for the extreme SE tip of Iowa. This made for the first frozen day for most of the state (first day of the winter season with the high temperature below 32). The featured chart displays the first date each winter season for this threshold and the number of days for the same season meeting that threshold as well. The year presented represents the December month of the winter season, so 2016 is the winter of 2016-2017. If we have an average winter, we have 44 more frozen days to go!

Voting:
Good: 6
Bad: 0

Tags:   frozen  

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Late for a Frozen Day

26 Mar 2014 05:37 AM
The temperature failed to reach 32 degrees on Tuesday for Ames. It is getting rather late into the spring season for this cold of high temperature to occur. The featured chart displays the dates of having a high temperature below freezing for Ames, with a fit line against the last date each spring season. The trend has been for the last frozen day of the season to come a bit earlier each year. Warmer daytime temperatures are in the forecast, so perhaps our last frozen day is behind us for the season!

Voting:
Good: 21
Bad: 0
Abstain: 2

Tags:   frozen  

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bars in blue are years with as early a date as 2012

First Frozen Day

14 Nov 2012 05:43 AM
On Monday, Cedar Rapids had its first day of the season with a high temperature below freezing (a frozen day). This was the earliest such day since 1996 as shown by the featured chart. Does an early first frozen day provide any insights into the winter season ahead? Based on average temperature for the winter season (Dec - Jan - Feb), the bottom chart would indicate that the answer is no. The next 7-10 days have daily highs in the 50s, so our next frozen day will have to wait for a bit.

Voting:
Good: 27
Bad: 6

Tags:   frozen  

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First Frozen Streak

09 Dec 2011 05:57 AM
The high temperature on Thursday barely breached freezing for Ames putting an end to the streak of four days below freezing. The featured chart presents a comparison between the length of the first period below freezing each winter to the total number of days below freezing and the average temperature for that winter season. The good news is that having an initial streak of four days does not appear to provide a hint to having a bad winter season. Today will be another cold day with a slight warmup expected for this weekend.

Voting:
Good: 20
Bad: 8

Tags:   frozen  

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Frozen Days

06 Dec 2011 05:57 AM
Ames experienced its first day with a high temperature below freezing on Sunday. The featured chart presents the number of days each winter with a daily high temperature below freezing along with the first day of winter below freezing. The first day this year is a bit later than normal. The bottom chart hints that having the first frozen day in December typically leads to a below average number of frozen days for the winter season. If this were to happen, it would buck the recent trend shown in the middle figure of having above average number of days per year with a high temperature below freezing.

Voting:
Good: 14
Bad: 3

Tags:   frozen   winter