2008 Weather Summary

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January
January was warm with below average rain and above average snow. The average temperature was 32.0 degrees, 3.3 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature was 54 degrees on January 9 th and 11th. A minimum temperature of 7.0 degrees was recorded on the 4th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 40.0 degrees, 3.0 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 24.0 degrees, 3.7 degrees above the norm. Daytime high temperatures were in the 50’s 6 days and only 3 days had high temperatures below 32 degrees. Evening temperatures were below 32 degrees for 23 nights. Only 2 nights had temperatures in the single digits.

Precipitation totaled 2.62 inches. This is 1.96 inches below normal. We had measurable precipitation on 9 days; 3 of those days had less than 0.10 inches. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 1.05 inches on the 11th. We only had measurable snowfall of 0.10 inches or greater on 4 days of the month totaling 13.00 inches, 2.8 inches above average. The largest 24-hour snowfall was 11.0 inches on the 28th of January.

Sunshine totaled 47% of the possible sunshine hours, 1 point above the normal and 2 points below last January.

PERSONNEL

Dr. Hilary Sandler and James O’Connell traveled to Philadelphia, PA to attend the Northeastern Weed Science Society Annual Meeting, from January 7th to January 10th.

Dr. Carolyn DeMoranville and Dr. Peter Jeranyama traveled to New Brunswick, NJ to attend the 2008 Northeast Region American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Meeting, from January 3rd to January 5th.

Dr. Frank Caruso traveled to Chatsworth, NJ to meet with researchers and discuss future research projects January 8-9. He also traveled to Madison, WI as a guest speaker at the Wisconsin Cranberry School, from January 15th to January 17th.

February

February was warm, wet, and windy with well below average sunshine. The temperatures averaged 33.0 degrees, 3.0 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature was 55.0 degrees on the 18th and a minimum temperature of 12.0 degrees was recorded on the 11 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 41.0 degrees, 2.8 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 25.0 degrees, 3.3 degrees above the norm. There were no single digit temperatures recorded in February, yet the evening lows were below 30 degrees all but 5 nights.

Sunshine totaled 43% of the possible sunshine hours, 7 points below the norm. Sunshine has been well above normal in February for the past 3 years.

Precipitation totaled 5.73 inches. This was 2.01 inches above normal. We had measurable precipitation on 10 days. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 1.72 inches on the 13 th. There were only 2 days with measurable snowfall totaling 3.5 inches, 6.0 inches below normal. The greatest snowfall for one storm came on the 22 nd with 2.0 inches. Year-to-date snowfall recorded in East Wareham is now 28.84 inches.

The official winter in East Wareham (Dec. 2007 - Feb. 2008) has been very wet and warm. The season temperatures averaged 32.7 degrees, 2.8 degrees above normal. The low mark was 7.0 degrees on Jan. 4 th and the high mark was 55 degrees on Dec. 23 rd and Feb. 18 th. The coldest daily high was a bitter 16.0 degrees on Jan. 3 rd. Sunshine was 42%, 6 points below normal. Precipitation totaled 14.46 inches, 2.16 inches above average. Snowfall totaled 28.84 inches, 3.51 inches above normal.

March
March was much like a lion for the first three weeks and then like a lamb the final week when it came to rainfall this year. On the whole, March was warm; very wet and had above average sunshine. The temperatures averaged 38.5 degrees, 1.3 degrees per day below the average. Maximum temperature was 61.0 degrees on the 8 th and a minimum temperature of 21.0 degrees was recorded on the 3 rd. Daytime high temperatures averaged 47.0 degrees, 1.8 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 30.0 degrees, 0.8 degrees above the norm.

Sunshine totaled 52% of the possible sunshine hours, 4 points above the norm. Four days had no sunshine, yet six days had over 95% sunshine. Sunshine data are from the Blue Hill Observatory.

Precipitation totaled 5.26 inches. This is 0.70 inches above normal. We had measurable precipitation of 0.10 inches or greater rainfall on eight days. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 2.24 inches on the 7 th and 8 th. We have received 13.61 inches of rainfall year to date, totaling 1.21 inches above average for the year to date in East Wareham. We had only one event with measurable snowfall during the month, totaling 0.1 inches. The 2007 – 2008 winter season snowfall recorded in East Wareham is now at 28.94 inches. This will come in as 2.46 inches below the average snowfall in East Wareham.

PERSONNEL

Dr. Hilary Sandler and Dr. Peter Jeranyama traveled to Memphis, TN to attend the CSREES Grantsmanship Workshop, March 9-11th.

Dr. Frank Caruso traveled to Windsor, CT to meet with Co-PI’s on Sea Grant at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, March 17th.

April
April temperatures and rainfall ran very close to average this year. The temperature averaged 47.0 degrees, 1.1 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature was 72.0 degrees on the 18 th and 24 th and a minimum temperature of 29.0 degrees was recorded on the 3 rd, 9 th, 15 th, 16 th and 17 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 57.0 degrees, 2.8 degrees above the norm. Evening low temperatures averaged 38.0 degrees, 0.5 degrees above the norm.

Sunshine totaled 58% of the possible sunshine hours, 8 points above the norm. This is also 18 points above last year. We had 6 days with virtually no sun, and only 9 days had over 90% sunshine.

Precipitation totaled 4.56 inches, which is 0.23 inches above normal. This is 3.57 inches less than April 2007 in East Wareham. We had measurable precipitation on 12 days. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 1.96 inches on the 29 th. The highest rainfall in one storm was 2.21 inches, over a two-day period. Year-to-date rainfall for 2008 stands at 18.17 inches; this is 1.47 inches above normal and 2.45 inches below the year to date rainfall at this point in 2007. We had a 16-day period with less then 0.1 inches of rain and the dew points were very low, creating several nights of frost conditions on cranberry bogs.

In the past 10 years, we averaged 32.35 inches of snowfall during the winter season. Snowfall recorded during the winter season of 2007-2008 in East Wareham was only 28.94 inches, 3.41 inches below the average.

PERSONNEL

Dr. Frank Caruso traveled to Washington, DC to participate on the review panel for USDA/CSREES Pest Management Alternative Program, April 19-25.

May
May was cool and dry with slightly above-average sunshine. The temperatures for May averaged 54.0 degrees, 2.3 degrees per day below normal, and 3.0 degrees below last year’s average. The maximum temperature was 74.0 degrees on the 30 th and a minimum temperature of 32.0 degrees was recorded on the 1 st. Daytime high temperatures averaged 63.0 degrees, 1.2 degrees below the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 46.0 degrees, 1.7 degrees below the norm.

Sunshine totaled 53% of the possible sunshine hours, 1 point above the norm. There were 9 days with 90% or better sunshine and 8 days with no sunshine at all, compared to May 2006 when there were 12 days with no sunshine. There was only 1 days with dense fog in East Wareham.

Precipitation totaled 2.81 inches, there were 13 days having measurable precipitation. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 0.89 inches on the 9 th - 10 th. Our total year-to-date rainfall is 20.98 inches, 0.68 inches above the average in East Wareham, and 2.63 inches below the amount measured at this point last year.

The official spring (March-May) had very average temperatures and rainfall, with above-average sunshine. Temperatures averaged right at normal (46.5 degrees), with average rainfall (4.1 inches) and 5.7 inches below-average snowfall, only receiving 0.10 inches total snowfall for this period. Sunshine was well above normal, with all three months having above normal sunshine.

June
June was dry, with above average temperatures and below average sunshine. The temperature averaged 68.5 degrees, 2.9 degrees above normal. Maximum temperature was 90.0 degrees on the 9 th and 10 th, a minimum temperature of 51.0 degrees was recorded on the 6 th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 77.0 degrees, 3.4 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 60.0 degrees, 2.5 degrees above the norm. This was the fourth warmest June recorded in East Wareham, surpassed only by 1957, 1998, and 2001. There was an early four-day heat wave for much of the region during June 8 th – 11 th.

Sunshine totaled 52% of the possible sunshine hours, 3 points below the norm. We had 6 days with 90% of possible sunshine in East Wareham.

Precipitation totaled 2.87 inches, which is 0.63 inches below normal. We had measurable precipitation on 11 days, but only 5 days had measurable precipitation greater than 0.10 inches. There were three thunder storms during the month. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 1.13 inches on the 24 th. Year-to-date rainfall for 2008 is 23.85 inches, 0.05 inches above average for East Wareham and 1.53 inches less than 2007.

PERSONNEL

Dr. Hilary Sandler traveled to Vancouver, BC from June 22nd to June 28th to present a paper at the 5th International Weed Science Congress.

July

August

September

October

November

December

Year-End Summary

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