November, 2014

It isn't unusual to have cold temperatures in November in Southwest Ohio, but towards the middle to end of November in Reily, Ohio there was an extended period of atypically cold temperatures.  This was also accompanied by a fairly significant snow fall.  Snow is also somewhat unusual in November, especially one of this magnitude.  The cold temperatures and snow were ended by a storm dropping significant rain with ferocious winds.
The month ended with weather more typical of early Ohio winter.  Ice and Mud.

October 2014

October's weather in Reily, Ohio was fairly typical.  The month started out warm with high daily temperature swings.  There were several smaller rain events through the month.  October ended with a near-record high temperature, well above 80 degrees, before cooling down to more typical fall temperatures.

September 2014

September came in with weather more typical of mid summer.  Temps were in the 90s with rain and threats of rain.  Temperatures eventually moderated to a more typical late summer and the weather pattern overall changed to dry days, cool nights and warm days.
The end of the month was characterized by a few weeks of nearly perfect early-fall conditions.

August 2014

August started out warm, but not overly hot.  There was a significant cool down in the middle of the month, suggesting the dry days and cool nights that typify the late summer had arrived, a premonition of fall.  However, the month ended very hot, humid and rainy, more similar to what would be expected in late July.  There were several very significant rain events which eventually washed away the heat and humidity.

July 2014

July was mostly typical in Reily, Ohio.  The weather was mostly hot and humid with a few cool days and nights.  July is the average hottest month of the year in Southwest Ohio and oddly, the hottest week (the third week of July) was atypically cool.
Reily had a few significant rain events and one accompanied by very high winds more typical of spring and early summer.

June 2014

June came in as a typical Reily summer.  The month seemed wetter than normal with a majority of days having at least a threat of rain.  Most of the rain threat was of the typical summer time afternoon thunderstorms, but overall it seemed there were more days of rain than is typical.  Other parts of the country, most notably Minnesota, got historic rain accompanied by historic flooding.

Temperatures continued to warm through the month and there were many days near 90F, but none above it.  Humidity was significant through much of the month, which went along with the frequent rains.  We head into July as the average hottest month of the year.

May, 2014

It appears the brutal winter of 2013/2014 has released its icy grip and allowed spring to move into summer.  May came with warm weather at the beginning and a pronounced cold spell in the middle with Southwest Ohio moving firmly into summer at the end.
There were a couple of large rain events, that were more like summer rains than spring rains.
There were many days with highs above 80 degrees F and average wind speeds reduced form the typical spring winds to more of a summer pattern.
We can likely look forward to more summer heat and humidity, but for at least a while this will be a welcome change from the harsh winter.

April, 2014

April came to Reily Township, Ohio with rain and average temperatures warmed in the month.  Nice days were numerous as pleasant spring days became more than just teasers.  The lawn has been mowed twice already and crop activity was present on the back acreage.
There were a few very heavy early rains with some significant wind with the rest of the month showing precipitation spread out with smaller rainfall totals.  The end of the month came with a large weather system lumbering through the eastern part of the country.  Most of the heavy weather from this was south (with severe weather outbreaks including numerous tornadoes) and more to the north (with much more rainfall and cooler temperatures.
A few process things to note:

• A new computer is now running the Davis Weather Station and connecting it to the internet.  The demise of support for XP initiated this change.  This has caused a few instances of being down as the new system is brought up to full reliability.  
• I may move the weather server to Linux Mint in the near future.  Weewx appears to work well as the monitoring software, and I have options for exporting and control/upload of the weatther webcam.  I have a computer about 90% ready to go.  With nice spring weather, I don't have the enjoyment of sitting inside for long periods of time to finish make this a reality just now.
• Weather Underground has made changes to the personal web station page.  The weather sticker at the bottom of this blog page works for now, but may need to be removed at some point in the future.

March, 2014

If the adage is that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, that was true in Reily, Ohio for 2014.  It was probably true for much of the Eastern United States.
The month started after a brutal February with a final snow storm.  That storm also had significant ice accumulation.  This was followed by temperatures which were much colder than usual.  The snow and ice lasted for a several days, well into the time Southern Ohio would be getting the first few warm spring-like days.
After the snow melted, temperatures largely moderated.  There were several threats of more snow, but they materialized as flurries or rain.
The month ended with more typical temperatures.  March still brought the promise of Spring with a few very nice days with some spring-like rain.

February, 2014

Winter in Southwest Ohio can be unpredictable, but February, 2014 can be best characterized as unusual.  While a few solid snows are likely every winter, most of February was spent socked in with cold and snow.  Snow came early in the month and several reinforcements meant that not only was the snow deep by SW Ohio standards, but it lasted.  Temperatures were also uncharacteristically cold, being blamed on the "polar vortex" bringing cold arctic air to the south.  There were also several days with very high winds and a good deal of ice as well.  The rain graph below shows only the small amount of rain that fell as liquid (and a little bit of melting), as the weather station was frozen solid for much of the month.
Towards the end of the month, a few warm days melted the snow until a late month cold spell brought temperatures down again.  March usually starts to look like spring, but winter storm warnings are accompanying the calendar page change.

January, 2014

January can be cold and snowy in Reily, Ohio, but January 2014 was colder and snowier than normal.
There were several excursions near or below -10F and on a couple days, the temperature was at or below 0F for an entire day.  About half of the month saw noticeable snow on the ground.  The month ended with not only very cold temperatures but also a snow and windstorm.  The snow amounts were not impressive, but the accompanying winds were ferocious and caused significant drifting.  Recorded wind gusts were higher than seen in the last year and at 40mph only 10 feet of the ground were significant.
The average coldest day of the year is around January 20 so the general trend should be towards warmer weather.

December, 2013

Significant snow came in December with several inches falling on the 6th.  This snow was reinforced several times over the next couple weeks, leaving a measurable level of snow on the ground until December 20.  The snow was melted by a rapid and very significant increase in temperature.  This was coupled with a ferocious rain event bringing several inches of additional liquid causing some flooding.
The combination of ground snow and overall weather did not create the typical sinusoidal day-night temperature swings typically seen.  Reily had the first incidence of below zero temperatures in quite some time (since before the Reily Weather Station was set up).  December winds in Reily picked up with very high winds associated with the time period after the heavy rains.