Odd-feeling R.I. weather averages out around normal
4:32 PM Fri, Nov 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Not really, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center in Ithaca, N.Y. Climatologist Jessica Rennells said Friday that while the summer was not very hot and July was the wettest since her center began keeping records in 1932, everything essentially averaged out. "The season as a whole was really close to normal." Some farmers in New York had low crop yields, she said. The same proved true in Rhode Island, where some farms in October said they lost a lot of their pumpkin crop to soggy conditions. Some farmers on Friday, however, reported a better-than-average harvest of apples. Rennells' rundown of temperatures: "April was a little above normal, May was right at normal, June was a little colder, average 64.4 degrees, and normal is 67.6. July was a little bit cooler, the average being 70.3, where normal is 73.3 degrees. August was a little above normal - the average was 73.9, where normal is 71.9. September was below normal at 63, with normal 64. October was one degree below normal with 52, while the normal is 53." As for November, she said, it has been warmer than usual but it's not over yet. The average temperature so far has been 49.2, with normal at 43.8. As for rainfall, July and October won the race. "In July we had a lot of rain - 10.52 inches," she said. "Normal is 3.17. That's a lot of rain." Then along came October, with 7.13 inches, "a lot above normal at 3.69," Rennells said. Speaking of rainfall, the overnight deluge from Thursday to Friday caused the cancellation of the planned opening Friday evening of the Bank of America Skating Center in Kennedy Plaza. Bob McMahon, city parks director, said the compressor that chills the concrete surface of the rink and freezes layers of water lost out in the overnight bout with the rain. "We were able to hold ice just fine [Thursday]," he said. "You put the water on it in thin layers, so it took us three nights to make it. We had a good inch, inch and a half. But when rainwater in that volume lands on top of the ice, especially in 50 degree weather, you just have warm water sitting on the ice." McMahon predicted that the excess water would evaporate overnight and allow the rink to open for business on Saturday. At Snowhurst Farm in Chepachet, owner Daniel O'Connor grows apples. He said Friday that the combination of warm weather and plentiful rain has counterintuitively brought problems. "Right now everything's growing too fast," he said. "The leaves have come off, so this is the time to start pruning, and there's an awful lot of growth on them." O'Connor said the weather combination had reduced his expected crop by about half. At Knight's Farm in Glocester, manager Chris Fortini had just the opposite problem with his trees. He said they were not growing as much as normal, and he fears that wet weather will let fungus attack their roots. But his biggest weather problem, he said, was that rain perversely seemed to select weekends. His farm is a pick-you-own, he said. "People weren't coming out because they didn't want to get soaked." John Steere, at Steere Orchards in Smithfield, another apple grower, reported "No problems, not at all." People who work outdoors also had to contend with the quirky weather. Steven V. Guilmette, owner of Heritage Improvements Roofing, in Harrisville, said, "The rain always affects us, puts behind schedule. But after years of doing this we learn how to work around things. Weather is a force in our industry. The spring was bad. The summer was good. The fall weather is a big help." He said the comparatively balmy weather since September had brought an increase of about 20 percent in business. Earl Gelineau, owner of CertaPro Painters of Providence, said the weather affected his business, but not in a way one might expect. Usually, in March, his exterior painting work "takes off." This year, with many people staying indoors and unable to do yard work or worry about exterior paint, he theorized, they would say, " 'Let's get the inside spruced up.' We ended up doing about 35 percent more interior work this year." As for exterior painting, "If it rains on Monday you can't touch anything until Wednesday," he said. "If the moisture content is too high, the paint won't adhere." Get a detailed history of the local weather, plus current conditions and forecasts, for your area, at projo.com/weather
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This goes to show that average and perception are at two polar opposites. To really look at data, you need to look at the outliers. The outliers say we had periods of really wet weather; this more aligns with our perception and what we remember of 2009 weather.
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