Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Just how low did it go?

Original post appeared on Syracuse.com on 1/26/11; posted by Drew Montreuil. This version is edited.

You certainly do not need a meteorologist to tell you that the cold was bone-chilling Monday morning. However, you might be interested to know how cold it actually got across Central New York.

Click the map for a bigger view!

I put together a map of reported low temperatures from around Central New York. Most of these low temperatures were reported to the National Weather Service through co-op spotters. Some of the other readings were recorded on personal weather stations that upload data onto The Weather Underground.

As you can see, the temperatures can vary greatly over a short distance depending on a number of factors, including elevation, proximity to water and urban vs rural settings. A great example of this is Groton's reported -8º. This temperature was taken at a high elevation somewhat near the Elementary School. On cold nights, the coldest air settles in the valleys. Therefore, I would not be surprised if someone sees the map and thinks: "But I saw the bank thermometer Monday morning say -15º!" Down in the valley, it probably did drop below -10º. If anyone does have a lower reading from downtown Groton, I would be very interested in it, so please leave a comment!

For comparison to previous years, we have to look at Syracuse, since climate data from the NWS is only available for Syracuse and Binghamton. You may be interested to know that the -13º was the lowest temperature in the past few years. The lowest temperatures for the past few years in Syracuse are as follows:


  • 2010: -9º
  • 2009: -2º
  • 2008: -4º
  • 2007: -9º

Data from before 2007 was not available on the National Weather Service's Climate site for Syracuse. I can, however, tell you that the -13º is no where near the record low for Syracuse since observations began at the airport in 1971. That record belongs to February 1979, when it was -26º.

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